Fiat urgently needs more capacity also in the light of the fact that its Tychy, Poland, plant is running flat out to supply enough units of the Fiat 500 and Panda, with the all-new Ford Ka, due to go into production in September. This will bring Tychy’s annual capacity to 500,000 units.

Fiat is currently working on a new low-cost range of cars for developing markets. Company officials stress the new vehicle is not to be compared with the Tato Nano, which has been billed as the world’s cheapest automobile.

Sources claim the vehicle will be produced at the Zastava plant in Serbia. Lorenzo Sistino, managing director of Fiat Automobiles, would not confirm the above facts, but pointed out the newcomer could not be compared with the Tata Nano. “This will be a true family car and not to be compared with the Nano,” Sistino said.
 
For the time being, no decision has been made whether the new range will go on sale as a Fiat product or under a different brand.
 
Additionally, in 2010 the Zastava site will launch series production of a new runabout, currently called the Topolino. The car will share its platform with that of the Fiat 500 and the Panda. It will also be the first Fiat to feature the company’s new two-cylinder petrol engine, currently under development. “The engine will be able to generate over 100 PS, with CO2 emissions below 100 g/km,” Sistino said.
 
In late April, Fiat struck a deal with the Serbian government to buy 70 pct of Zastava, planning some EUR 700m worth of investment there. Fiat urgently needs more capacity also in the light of the fact that its Tychy, Poland, plant is running flat out to supply enough units of the Fiat 500 and Panda, with the all-new Ford Ka, due to go into production in September. This will bring Tychy’s annual capacity to 500,000 units. “Therefore, we need another production site located in a low-cost country,” Sistino said.
 
Demand is particularly high for the 500 supermini, whose deliveries are expected to hit 190,000 this year. European-wide sales figures show that over 50 pct of the people opting for a Fiat 500 have migrated from other brands. In Germany, the figure is as high as 70 pct. Lorenzo Sistino said that over the last two years Fiat has been the fastest-growing car brand in Europe.

Report: Samar