In the presence of Grande Puntos, Stradas and a soon-to-be unveiled compact SUV at its Auto Africa stand, Fiat Auto SA put on its hiking boots and unveiled a surprise.
By Gareth Dean
In the presence of Grande Puntos, Stradas and a soon-to-be unveiled compact SUV at Auto Africa, Fiat Auto SA announced the termination of its assembly agreement with Nissan by the end of August 2007, nearly a year ahead of schedule.
Fiat Auto SA managing director Giorgio Gorelli was quoted as saying: “We see the early termination of the (assembly and parts distribution) agreements agreement as an opportunity to consolidate the delivery time of products to the market and the capacity to deliver what our customers request”.
Meanwhile, a number of Grande Punto and Strada pick-up models saw service in the Italian marque’s exhibit, but the plaudits were reserved for the mystery SUV and extended-cab Strada offerings.
Even though the Panda 4×4 has been on the market for a while, most South African don’t associate Fiats with off-road recreation… unless you’re a farmer having fun on your tractor. Well, we had to think again – a burst of rock music and visuals depicting what looked like a Grande Punto on stilts careening through the mud, drew our attention.
That was, in fact the unveiling of the Sedici (“sixteen”), Fiat Auto’s compact SUV. Powered by a 1,9-litre Multijet turbodiesel generating 87 kW and 280 N.m of torque at 2 500 r/min, the Sedici gets its Grande Punto-on-nandrolone looks courtesy of a makeover from the (Giorgetto) Giugiaro design studio.
The interior claims to offer slightly greater room than most of Fiat’s other cars and a modicum of practicality in the guise of individually-folding rear seats. The Sedici will find its way to South Africa towards the second half of 2007, but pricing has not yet been confirmed.
The other Fiat to be unveiled on the stand was the Strada X-Space, an extended cab version of the compact bakkie. Powered by a 60 kW 1,4-litre unit that develops 120 N.m of torque, the X-space claims to serve up an additional 30 cm stowage space behind the seats. An “Adventure”-badged 4×4 Strada will make its way to South Africa in December.
