The Fiat Linea has achieved its first significant milestone in India as since its arrival on the market at the beginning of the year it has clocked up 10,000 sales which in fact equates to four times the sales that Fiat managed in total during the same period of last year. It is an important step forward for the brand which struggled for many years to make an impact on the local market.

Fiat India Automobiles was re-launched as a joint venture with India's biggest carmaker, Tata Motors, and now boasts three locally built models, the long-running Palio (now sold in Palio Stile format), the Linea and most recently the Grande Punto. The brand is enjoying a resurgence in India and as well as these three models which are all assembled locally at the Ranjangaon factory in Pune, Fiat India is also importing the Fiat 500 from Poland in small numbers.

"Fiat has been deeply-rooted in the Indian psyche for many decades now and we want to see a lot many Fiat vehicles plying on Indian roads. The milestone achieved by Linea is a testimony that we are inching closer towards this goal," Fiat India Automobiles CEO Rajeev Kapoor said in a statement issued today.

Last month Fiat India sold 2,567 cars in the country which was a significant year-on-year improvement on September 2008 when it sold just 243 cars. After the first nine months of this year Fiat has now racked up 12,893 sales compared to 2,407 units for the same period last year. The Linea's success however masks a steep decline in demand for the Palio, which is now also available with the 1.3 Multijet 16v turbodiesel. Fiat India has also started exporting the Linea to South Africa.

The latest addition to the range, the Grande Punto, has taken over 5,500 orders during its first three months on sale and looks set to be another hit for Fiat India. "Now, we are confident that the Grande Punto will emulate if not exceed this success," Kapoor added.