Europe Fiat's main market is Europe, mainly focused on Italy. Historically successful in building city cars and Superminis, currently Fiat has a range of models focused on those two segments (accounting for the 84% of its sales in 2011). Fiat does not currently offer any large family cars, nor executive cars: these market segments are to some extent covered by the
Lancia,
Alfa Romeo and
Maserati brands, which Fiat also owns. Fiat's share of the European market shrank from 9.4 percent in 2000 to 5.8 percent in the summer of 2004. At this point
Sergio Marchionne was appointed as Fiat's chief executive. By March 2009 its market share had expanded to 9.1 percent. Marchionne introduced an informal climate and reduced the links in the chain of command from nine to five. He unilaterally decided to leave the Fiat group from
Confindustria and
Federmeccanica, and to cancel the national collective labor agreement in the engineering sector by starting separate negotiations with some trade union organizations for a new specific company agreement in the automotive sector, starting from the
Pomigliano production plant. Fiat built its five-story
Lingotto plant between 1915 and 1918, at which time it was Europe's largest car manufacturing plant. Later the Mirafiori plant was built, also in
Turin. To prepare for the production of the all-new
Fiat 128, Fiat opened its
Rivalta plant in October 1968. Until the 128 entered production, the plant was used to build sports versions of the
850 and
124 as well as parts for the
Fiat Dino. Fiat's 2018 range of passenger car engines comprised eleven units, eight petrols and three diesels. Their current range of models is the following: •
City car:
Fiat 500,
Fiat Panda •
Compact car:
Fiat Tipo •
Mini MPV:
Fiat 500L •
Mini SUV:
Fiat 500X •
Roadster:
Fiat 124 Spider Fiat sales in 2011 were up to 676,704 (less 17.3% versus the previous year): Light commercial vehicles are sold in Europe under the brand
Fiat Professional. Fiat was already exporting cars to the UK market by the outbreak of
World War II in 1939. Its market share increased rapidly during the 1970s, with the
127 supermini and
128 range of small family cars being the biggest sellers, selling largely on practicality and efficiency. Fiat's market share increased further during the 1980s with the
Fiat Uno (imported to the UK from June 1983) being the company's best-seller in the UK, and its share fell sharply in the early 1990s before the arrival of the
Punto in March 1994 rejuvenated the company's UK fortunes. The second-generation Punto was a strong seller in the UK after its October 1999 launch, but the new modern-day
Fiat 500 (launched there in January 2008) has accounted for most of the company's UK sales in more recent years. The original Fiat 500 had been one of the few direct competitors for the iconic
Mini during its 1960s heyday.
South America , Brazil. Fiat has long invested in South America, mainly in
Brazil (where Fiat has been the market leader for many years) and in
Argentina. It built its first Brazilian car plant in the
Greater Belo Horizonte city of
Betim in 1973, after initially assembling tractors there. The Brazilian range is similar to the European one, with the addition of a special family which derives from a common platform (called "Project 178"):
Palio,
Siena,
Palio Weekend and
Strada. Recently a range of new models developed in
Brazil has been launched:
Pulse,
Fiorino,
Toro,
Argo, and
Mobi. Other European models are currently imported to Brazil:
500e, imported from
Italy, and
Cronos, imported from
Argentina. Fiat sells in
Brazil under the Fiat brand, European
Fiat Professional light commercial vehicles as: •
Strada (developed in Brazil, has the same platform as the
Palio from "Project 178") •
Ducato Models that have already been sold in Brazil: •
Uno •
Linea •
Tipo •
Tempra •
Prêmio •
Elba •
Idea •
Punto •
Marea •
Bravo •
147 (and its family: the
saloon Oggi and the
station-wagon Panorama) •
Doblò North America . In 1908, the Fiat Automobile Co. was established in the United States with a factory in
Poughkeepsie, N.Y., began producing Fiats a year later, like the
Fiat 60 HP and the
Fiat 16-20 HP. The New Jersey factory was closed after the U.S. entered
World War I in 1917. Fiat returned to North America in the 1950s, selling the original 500,
Fiat 600 Multipla,
Fiat 1100,
Fiat 1200, and the
Fiat 1300 from 1961. Models produced from the 1960s onward include the
Fiat 124 Sport Spider and the
Fiat X1/9 - these two sporting cars remained rather successful in the United States market, which took nearly sixty percent of the total production in 1980. Fiat gained a reputation for selling poor quality cars in North America, mostly over rust and poor reliability. The last new Fiat model to be introduced in North America during this era was the
Strada, in February 1979. Sales in the US fell accordingly, from a high of 100,511 cars in 1975 to 14,113 in 1982. In January 2009, the
Fiat Group acquired a 20% stake in US automaker
Chrysler LLC. The deal saw the return of the Fiat brand to North America after a 25-year absence. The first Fiat-branded model to appear was the internationally popular
Fiat 500 city car. The Fiat 500 model is built at Chrysler's assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico, which currently makes also the
Dodge Journey and
Fiat Freemont crossovers. Fiat is also selling its commercial vehicles
Fiat Ducato and
Fiat Doblò in North America, rebranded as Ram ProMaster and Ram ProMaster City respectively. FIAT discontinued production of the Fiat 500 in 2019 while sales of leftover dealer stock continued into 2020. FIAT also discontinued the 124 spider and 500L models in 2020. FIAT announced a new car will be released; a plug-in 500e to launch in 2024.
Africa Fiat passenger cars began assembly in South Africa in 1950, and full production in its Rosslyn plant commenced in 1966. Sales reached a peak market share of about five percent around 1970 but then dropped precipitously. A new
128-based half-ton pickup truck helped turn the situation around. It also assembled in Egypt through El-Nasr Automotive Manufacturing Company which assembled FIAT brands 125-127-128. On 13 October 2022, Fiat Brand and the
Algerian government signed a framework agreement aimed at local production of vehicles and the development of the automotive sector in Algeria.
Asia Fiat's presence in the Chinese market is limited compared to its European, Japanese, Korean, and American rivals. At the beginning of 2012, Fiat was only importing
Fiat Bravo and
Fiat 500 model. However, in 2012 Fiat and
GAC opened a joint venture plant to produce the first Fiat vehicle specifically developed for the Chinese market ever: the
Fiat Viaggio, a compact car derived from another Fiat model, the
Dodge Dart (in turn derived from another Fiat car, the
Alfa Romeo Giulietta). Fiat currently offers Japanese consumers the 500 in both coupe and convertible body styles, and the Panda. Fiat was present in the Indian market from 1948 until 2019. They were last operating in a joint venture with
Tata Motors before going solo in 2012. ==Current production==