Brazil will be able to see and drive the New 500. The Fiat car continues its global journey, which began a month ago with its debut in Israel. The model was presented by Olivier Francois, FIAT CEO and Global CMO Stellantis, with a video message from the FIAT Style Center in Turin, the “cradle” of the New 500.
«I am proud to participate in this important day that sees the debut of the New 500 in Brazil, the first overseas market for the FIAT icon, after the first step outside Europe in closer Israel – declared Olivier Francois, FIAT Chief Executive Officer and Global CMO Stellantis – this step fits perfectly into FIAT’s long history in Brazil and there are two aspects that make it special. First, Brazil is FIAT’s second home, just think of the age-old bond that unites us and the strategic importance of this market; a market in which FIAT is the leader with a market share of 22%. The second reason is that it was here, more than 40 years ago, that we began to develop Flex-Fuel technology for the use of alternative fuels such as ethanol, anticipating by many years the issues relating to sustainability underlying the strategy and Green path of the Brand – continues Francois -. Indeed, the 500 is an icon of change: born to redesign sustainable urban mobility and protagonist of an important turning point, it plays a key role in the “conversion to green” and the loyalty of users to electricity, in fact in our opinion “it is green, only if it is green for everyone “and this is our commitment”.
Brazil is in fact FIAT’s most important extra-European market where it is currently the sales leader with a share of 22%, up 52% compared to the previous year, thanks also to some recently launched models that have recorded exceptional results. : the Nuova Strada pick-up, updated last year, immediately met with great success becoming the best-selling car in Brazil; the Fiat Toro midsize SUV, refurbished last April, won over the public with a 25% growth in sales compared to the previous generation. And now the baton passes to the New 500 which will be available in the Icon version, hatchback version, with Level 2 Assisted Driving, ADAS, 11kW fast charging and 85kW fast charger, 10.25 ” radio, wireless Apple Carplay / Android Car.
In Betim, in the state of Minas Gerais, in 1976 the first FIAT plant was inaugurated to produce locally and the first car to leave the lines was the Fiat 147, a version derived from the famous Fiat 127. Recently renovated, today the factory represents one of the most important companies in the country and several Fiat models are produced here, including the Nuova Strada pick-up. But the presence of the Italian company in the country has much more distant roots, just think that on 26 July 1908 Silvio Alvares Penteado, aboard a Fiat 40HP, won the first car race held in Brazil. And in 1930 there was already a dealer in Sao Paulo and in 1950 a branch was opened for the import and distribution of FIAT tractors. Much has changed since then but the bond has been further strengthened, so much so that in 2015 the new Goiana plant was built, in the state of Pernambuco, one of the most advanced production sites in the automotive world, where Fiat Toro was born. But it should also be remembered that precisely in Brazil, since the 1970s, the FIAT brand has developed alternative technologies aimed at reducing emissions into the atmosphere by offering its customers reliable, accessible and sustainable products. One of the most significant examples of this green approach was born in the Betim factory and has spread throughout Latin America and other countries around the world: the use of ethanol, derived from sugar cane, and the development of Flex-Fuel technology that allows the engines to run on both ethanol and gasoline, or with the combination of both fuels. From an environmental point of view, the advantage of ethanol lies in the fact that it is a renewable energy source and helps to limit greenhouse gas emissions, as the biomasses of plant origin reabsorb the carbon dioxide emitted by the vehicle. It is therefore one of the most sustainable automotive solutions available on the market today. And now, looking to the future, the New 500 inaugurates a new chapter in FIAT innovation with which to make mobility increasingly accessible and respectful of the environment.
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