Fiat Automobiles

This article is about Fiat Group's company that produces Fiat branded cars. For the parent company, see Fiat.

Fiat Automobiles S.p.A.

Type	Public
Industry	Automotive
Founded	July 11, 1899 in Turin, Italy
Founder(s)	Giovanni Agnelli
Headquarters	Turin, Italy
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	John Elkann (President) Andrea Formica (CEO)
Products	Automobiles
Production output	1,455,650 units (2010)[1]
Owner(s)	Fiat S.p.A.
Parent	Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.
Website	Fiat.com

Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian automaker which produces Fiat branded cars, and is part of Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.. This is a subsiadiary of Fiat S.p.A., the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. The company, Fiat Automobiles S.p.A., was formed in January 2007 when Fiat reorganized its automobile business.^[2]

Cars

For Fiat branded cars, see List of Fiat models since 1899.

For Fiat branded vans, see Fiat Professional.

Current models

Fiat models manufactured currently in Europe and in other countries

Fiat Mille Fire

Mille

Main article: Fiat Uno

The Fiat Uno is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. The Uno was launched in 1983 and built in its homeland until 1995, with production still taking place in other countries.

Fiat 500

Fiat 500 (2007) in Turin.

Main article: Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 (Italian: cinquecento, Italian pronunciation: [ˌtʃiŋkweˈtʃɛnto]) is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa.

Fiat Albea

Albea

Main article: Fiat Albea

The Fiat Albea is the sedan version of the Fiat Palio small family car, built in Turkey at the Tofaş facilities of the Italian automaker Fiat.

Fiat Bravo

Bravo

Main article: Fiat Bravo (2007)

The Fiat Bravo is a small family car that has been produced since 2007 for the European and Australian markets. It is only available as a 5-door hatchback.

Fiat Croma

Croma

Main article: Fiat Croma

The Fiat Croma is a nameplate used for two automobiles produced by Italian automaker Fiat, one built from 1985 to 1996 and the other since 2005.

Fiat Doblo

Doblo

Main article: Fiat Doblo

The Fiat Doblò is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by Italian automaker Fiat since 2001, it was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 2000.

Fiat Fiorino

Fiorino

Main article: Fiat Fiorino

Fiorino is the model name that Italian car maker Fiat gives to the van derivatives of their small cars. The Fiorino has the largest cargo capacity of its class.

Fiat Grande Punto

Fiat Grande Punto

Main article: Fiat Grande Punto

The third generation Fiat supermini to bear the name Punto, codenamed Project 199, the Grande Punto was unveiled at the 2005 Frankfurt Motor Show and went on sale later that year. Styled by Giugiaro,[3] the car is based on the Fiat/GM SCCS platform. Whilst the model shares some of its name with the previous Punto, a large number of its components are new, including a new chassis and body shell.

Fiat Punto Evo

Punto Evo

Main article: Fiat Punto Evo

The Punto Evo is an evolution of the Grande Punto. Launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2009, it has two new engines, a 1.3L second generation Multijet diesel and a 1.4 petrol engine with Multiair technology. It also features a new navigation system integrated with the Blue&Me system called Blue&Me–TomTom.

Fiat Idea

Idea

Main article: Fiat Idea

The Fiat Idea is a mini MPV built by the Italian manufacturer Fiat since 2003. The car is based on the Project 188 platform, originally used for the second-generation Fiat Punto. The Idea is noted for its versatile interior, which includes sliding and folding rear seats.

Fiat Linea

Linea

Main article: Fiat Linea

The Fiat Linea is a small family car released on March 26, 2007 by the Italian automaker Fiat as a world car in Eastern Europe, India, Latin America and Middle East.

Fiat Multipla

Multipla

Main article: Fiat Multipla

The Fiat Multipla is a compact MPV manufactured by Italian automaker Fiat since 1998.

Fiat Palio

Main article: Fiat Palio

The Fiat Palio is a supermini designed by Fiat as a world car, aimed at developing countries.

Fiat Palio Weekend

Palio Weekend

Main article: Fiat Doblo

The Fiat Palio Weekend is Fiat's 'world car' small family car station wagon aimed at developing countries; it is an extended version of the hatchback Fiat Palio.

Fiat Panda

Panda

Main article: Fiat Panda

The Fiat Panda is a city car from the Italian automotive manufacturer Fiat.

Fiat Sedici

Sedici

Main article: Fiat Sedici

The Fiat Sedici is a mini sport utility vehicle co-developed by Fiat and Suzuki mainly for the European market. It was introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, and is built at the Magyar Suzuki plant in Hungary. The expected production volume is 60,000 units per year, 1/3 to be sold by Fiat and 2/3 by Suzuki, badged as the SX4. The Design was handled by Giorgetto Giugiaro's Italdesign studio, and it is an alternative to mini multi-purpose vehicles (MPV), which have a more "boxy" appearance.

Fiat Seicento

Seicento

Main article: Fiat Seicento

The Fiat Seicento is a city car produced by the Italian company Fiat, introduced in late 1997 as a replacement for the Fiat Cinquecento. The model has been withdrawn from most markets but is still listed as part of Fiat's 2010 range in their home market of Italy.

Fiat Siena

Siena

Main article: Fiat Siena

The Fiat Siena is the four-door sedan version of the Fiat Palio, a small family car especially designed for developing countries. The car is similar to Fiat Albea.

Fiat Stilo

Stilo

Main article: Fiat Stilo

The Fiat Stilo is a small family car available as a 3-door and a 5-door hatchback, as well as an estate (Fiat Stilo MultiWagon). Production ceased in 2007 for European markets, although it is still available in Brazil.

Fiat Strada

Strada

Main article: Fiat Strada

The Fiat Strada is a supermini coupe utility version of Fiat's "world car" project, the Palio. It is produced in Brazil and exported from Betim, Minas Gerais to the European Union, where it is sold as the Fiat Strada Malibu.

"Eurovans" is a common name applied to nearly identical large MPVs resulting from Sevel, a joint-venture of PSA and Fiat, and manufactured at Sevel Nord factory in France, near Valenciennes. The first eurovans were sold as Citroën Evasion (Synergie), Fiat Ulysse, Lancia Zeta and Peugeot 806. The present, second generation, saw the renaming of all but the Ulysse to Citroën C8, Lancia Phedra and Peugeot 807 respectively.

The eurovans differ little technically and visually, being a prime example of badge engineering. The eurovans share mechanicals and body structure with Sevel light commercial vans, Citroën Jumpy (Dispatch), Fiat Scudo and Peugeot Expert. They are more technically related to PSA than Fiat vehicles, as PSA governs the Sevel Nord part of the joint-venture.

Fiat in Europe

Fiat's share of the European market shrunk from 9.4 per cent in 2000 to 5.8 per cent in the summer of 2004. At this point Sergio Marchionne was appointed as Fiat Chief Executive. By March 2009 their market share had expanded back to 9.1%.^[3]

European Cars of the Year

The European Car of the Year award, Europe's premier automotive trophy for the past 40 years, has been awarded twelve times to the Fiat Group, more than any other manufacturer. Nine of these awards were won by Fiat Automobiles models. Most recently the Fiat Nuova 500 won the award for European Car of the Year 2008.^[4]

List of Fiat branded models which have won European Car of the Year:

• 1967: Fiat 124
• 1970: Fiat 128
• 1972: Fiat 127
• 1984: Fiat Uno
• 1989: Fiat Tipo
• 1995: Fiat Punto
• 1996: Fiat Bravo/Brava
• 2004: Fiat Panda
• 2008: Fiat 500

CO₂ emissions

Fiat Automobiles, one of Europe's 10 best-selling automotive brands, has for the second year running been confirmed as having the lowest average value for CO₂ emissions from vehicles sold in 2008: 133.7 g/km (137.3 g/km in 2007). This was corroborated by JATO, a provider of automotive data.^[5]

BSM-Fiat deal

In 2009, BSM (the British School of Motoring) ended a 16-year relationship with Vauxhall Motors and signed a deal with Fiat UK to swap its learner vehicle from the Vauxhall Corsa to the new Fiat 500. Fiat UK will supply 14,000 cars to BSM over four years in a marketing deal to inject some Italian styling into a century-old British brand, boosting the motoring school's image among its younger customers.^[6]

Fiat Marylebone

Fiat Marylebone is the UK Flagship store located in Wigmore Street, London. The store first opened on 11 March 2008 and was launched by Fiat for car buyers and Fiat enthusiasts. Also, Fiat has specifically designed the store for marketing venues, corporate meetings, fashion shows, art and design exhibitions and as a lavish set for film makers. ^[7]

Fiat Marylebone has already held a number of shows. Italian artist Fabio Pietrantonio held a venue for his latest press preview and VIP reception of the "Stop, Breathe, Respect" exhibition at Fiat Marylebone.^[8] And, most recently, Fiat Marylebone was used for a reception introducing the Italian artist Franco Brescianini. Around 100 guests, including art experts, celebrities and Fiat customers attended the exhibition, entitled Profili Femminili. The display was laid out across the flagship's lower floor, which can be transformed into a minimalist white art gallery.^[9]

Broadcaster CNN booked the Fiat Flagship Store for a seminar with the world's leading auto industry experts, marketers and media analysts.^{[10] [11]}

Fiat in Britain

By 1974, Fiat was achieving comfortable five figures yearly sales in the United Kingdom, with the 127 hatchback being its best seller that year with 11,389 sales (the 24th best selling car in Britain overall and the fourth best selling foreign model) and the smaller 126 and larger 128 were close behind, both with nearly 10,000 annual sales.^[12]By 1979, it had increased its market share further, as foreign cars in general were becoming more popular. The 127 was still the best selling model with more than 17,000 sales, followed closely behind by the new Strada and 131/Mirafiori. However, all of the Fiat models were now being outsold by the Fiat 124 derived Lada Riva, which had clocked up nearly 22,000 sales that year and was verging on a place in the top 20.^[13]By 1985, Fiat was enjoying more sales success in Britain as its new Uno (which replaced the 127 two years earlier) managed nearly 26,000 sales, firmly establishing itself alongside the likes of the Renault 5, Peugeot 205 and Nissan Micra as one of the most popular foreign small cars in Britian.^[14]The Uno's successor, the Punto (as of 2011 in its third generation), has been an even greater sales success. In 1995, its first full year on sale in Britain, nearly 45,000 were sold there. This size of car has traditionally been Fiat's biggest success with British buyers.^[15]However, customer satisfaction surveys in Britain have generally given a negative portrayal of Fiat's cars for reliability and build quality.^[16]

Fiat in the United States

Fiat has a long history in United States. In 1908, the Fiat Automobile Co. was established in the country and a plant in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., began producing Fiats a year later. These luxury cars were produced long before Chrysler Corp. started in 1925.^[17]

Fiat was sometimes used as a jocular backronym for 'Fix it again Tony', referring to poor reliability and problems, such as rust, which some Fiat owners in the United States encountered in the 1970s and 1980s.^[18][19][20] Partly as a result, Fiat sales in the US fell from a high of 100,511 cars in 1975 to 14,113 in 1982.^[19] In 1983, Fiat left the United States car market with a reputation for poor quality cars.^[21][22] However, Fiat has made significant improvements since then.^[21]

In January 2009, the Fiat Group acquired a 20% stake in US automaker Chrysler LLC.^[23] The deal will see the return of the Fiat brand to North America after a 25-year absence. The first Fiat-branded model to appear in the US is expected to be the popular Fiat Nuova 500 city car. The Fiat Nuova 500 model is built at Chrysler's assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico which currently makes also the Dodge Journey and Fiat Freemont crossovers.^[24]

Electric vehicles

Some Fiat vehicles are converted to all-electric by Micro-Vett: Fiat Doblò,^[25] Fiat Fiorino Cargo Electric^[26][27] and Fiat 500 (NICE/Fiat Micro-Vett e500).^[28][29]

Fiat has unveiled the Fiat Phylla concept (a solar car) and the Fiat Topolino.^[30]

Fiat is joining utility companies Cemig and Itaipu to develop new electric vehicles for Brazil, with an initial batch of Fiat Palio cars scheduled to start testing later 2007.^[31]

Fiat Bugster, rolled out at the São Paulo motor show in Brazil is an electric car powered by 93 lithium-ion batteries.^[32]

References

1. ^ "WORLD MOTOR VEHICLE PRODUCTION" (PDF). oica.net. 2010. http://oica.net/wp-content/uploads/fiat-2010.pdf. Retrieved 2011-09-13. 
2. ^ Hussain, Aijaz (January 23, 2007). "Fiat SpA reorganizes auto business, changes name to Fiat Group Automobiles". AP Worldstream. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29375817_ITM. Retrieved September 22, 2009. 
3. ^ "Fix it again, Sergio — and then fix the rest of 'em". The Irish Times. May 6, 2009. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/motors/2009/0506/1224245982906.html. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
4. ^ English, Andrew (November 19, 2007). "Fiat's Cinquecento voted car of the year". telegraph.co.uk (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/2749645/Fiats-Cinquecento-voted-car-of-the-year.html. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
5. ^ "Fiat keeps the low-CO₂ crown for second year in a row". Autoblog/FiatAutoPress release. March 3, 2009. http://green.autoblog.com/2009/03/03/fiat-keeps-the-low-co-sub-2-sub-crown-for-second-year-in-a-row/. Retrieved December 5, 2009. 
6. ^ Mortished, Carl (July 28, 2009). "Cheeky Italian Fiat takes British out of BSM as Vauxhall is dumped". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6729771.ece. Retrieved December 5, 2009. 
7. ^ "Fiat opens new flagship store in West London". Motortorque. Wed, 12 March 2008. http://motortorque.askaprice.com/news/auto-0803/fiat-opens-new-flagship-store-in-west-london.asp. Retrieved December 12, 2009. 
8. ^ "Italian Artist Fabio Pietrantonio Is Exhibiting His Latest Work At Fiat's London Flagship Site". SG Petch. October 22, 2008. http://fiat.sgpetch.co.uk/pages/mfr_news/article/headline=Italian+Artist+Fabio+Pietrantonio+Is+Exhibiting+His+Latest+Work+At+Fiat's+London+Flagship+Site/rowid=1477. Retrieved December 12, 2009. 
9. ^ "Fiat flagship top choice again for art exhibition". easier.com. 21 October 2009. http://www.easier.com/59880-fiat-flagship-top-choice-again-for-art-exhibition.html. Retrieved December 12, 2009. 
10. ^ "UK: Fiat opens flagship store in London". just-auto.com. Wed, 12 March 2008. http://www.just-auto.com/article.aspx?id=94141. Retrieved December 12, 2009. 
11. ^ "Fiat Opens Flagship Store in London". articlesbase. April 4, 2008. http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/fiat-opens-flagship-store-in-london-379073.html. Retrieved December 12, 2009. 
12. ^ [1]
13. ^ [2]
14. ^ [3]
15. ^ [4]
16. ^ [5]
17. ^ "Anyone less than 30 years old probably never has seen -- or at least doesn't remember seeing -- a Fiat automobile in the flesh.". bankrate.com. http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/fiat-returns-to-u-s-100-years-later-1.aspx. Retrieved 2009-09-22. 
18. ^ Nelson D Schwartz (April 25, 2009). "Would Detroit Sound Any Better in Italian?". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/business/global/26fiat.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved December 11, 2009. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "Fiat Finito". Time (magazine). January 31, 1983. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,951926,00.html?iid=digg_share. Retrieved September 21, 2009. 
20. ^ Krisher, Tom (January 31, 1983). "Problems of old Chrysler linger at 'new' Chrysler, US". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8553034. Retrieved September 22, 2009. 
21. ^ ^{a b} Szczesny, Joseph R. (May 1, 2009). "Can Americans Learn to Love Fiat? Chrysler Hopes So". Time (magazine). http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1895296,00.html. Retrieved September 19, 2009. 
22. ^ Lo Vecchio, Roberto (August 27, 2009). "Fiat-Chrysler I PRIMI CENTO GIORNI DI MARCHIONNE". Quattroruote. http://www.quattroruote.it/news/articolo.cfm?codice=198388. Retrieved September 22, 2009. 
23. ^ "Mergers: Commission approves acquisition of Chrysler by Fiat". europa.eu. http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1189. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
24. ^ "Toluca started Fiat 500s, 2011 Journeys". www.allpar.com. http://www.allpar.com/news/index.php/2010/12/toluca-started-fiat-500s-2011-journeys. Retrieved 2011-01-01. 
25. ^ "Doblo Elettrico". www.micro-vett.it. Archived from the original on 2008-06-18. http://web.archive.org/web/20080618001944/http://www.micro-vett.it/italiano/doblo.html. Retrieved 2008-10-02. 
26. ^ (no votes). "Fiat Fiorino Cargo Electric: at the Hanover show". Eurocarblog.com. http://www.eurocarblog.com/post/1197/fiat-fiorino-cargo-electric-at-the-hannover-show. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
27. ^ Blanco, Sebastian (2007-11-05). "All-electric Fiat Fiorino launches in February". Autobloggreen.com. http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/11/05/all-electric-fiat-fiorino-launches-in-february/. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
28. ^ "NICE Debuts All-Electric Fiat 500 at BIMS". worldcarfans.com. http://www.worldcarfans.com/9080723.009/nice-debuts-all-electric-fiat-500-at-bims. Retrieved 2008-10-02. 
29. ^ "NICE/Fiat Micro-Vett e500". Thegreencarwebsite.co.uk. 2008-08-04. http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/nicefiat-micro-vett-e500-electric-cars/#history. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
30. ^ "Fiat's electric Topolino | Auto Express News | News". Auto Express. 2008-06-04. http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/222864/fiats_electric_topolino.html. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
31. ^ "Fiat launching electric cars in Brazil — MotorAuthority — Car news, reviews, spy shots". MotorAuthority. 2007-08-09. http://www.motorauthority.com/fiat-launching-electric-cars-in-brazil.html. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 
32. ^ "Fiat Bugster A Plug-In Electric Car | Other Motorsports". Auto Racing Daily. 2008-11-16. http://www.autoracingdaily.com/news/other-motorsports/fiat-bugster-a-plug-in-electric-car/. Retrieved 2009-04-27. 

External links

• Official website
• Fiat Group Automobiles Press
• Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles