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Fiat banks on new models
GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Fiat Auto expects three new models it launched this week to make up 35 percent of its unit sales next year, one of the company's top executives said on Wednesday. Gianni Coda, who is in charge of the Fiat and Lancia brands, forecast Fiat should sell 400,000 of the new cars in 2004, up from about 125,000 he expects to hit the road later this year. "We're talking big numbers, 35 percent of total sales. These models are an important renovation of our product line,'' Coda told Reuters at the Geneva car show. "The new cars show we aren't dead. We're here and we're coming back with fun and excitement,'' he added. Parent company Fiat made a record loss of 4.26 billion euros ($4.65 billion) last year as drivers turned their backs on its ageing cars and picked snazzier new offerings from foreign firms instead. Fiat shares reached an 18-year low on Tuesday after rating agency Fitch downgraded its debt to ``junk'' status and the company said it was aiming for its auto arm to break even at the operating level in 2004, later than previously forecast. Unit sales of its Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Fiat marques fell about 11 percent last year, pushing Fiat Auto's revenue 9.4 percent lower to 22.15 billion euros. As part of a wide-sweeping restructuring, Fiat is investing 2.5 billion euros a year until 2005 to launch 20 new models and reinvigorate its image. On Tuesday, Coda unveiled the first three debutants, Fiat's newest releases since the mid-sized Stilo was launched in September 2001 and was hailed as Fiat's future. Stilo sales have since fallen far short of forecasts. The compact Fiat Gingo will replace the decades-old Panda and the Seicento, due to go out of production this year, while the Fiat Idea is the Turin-based group's first offering on the mini-MPV market. "THE LITTLE DEVIL''Under the Lancia marque, Fiat unveiled the new small city car Ypsilon. All three models will be launched across Europe later this year. Coda said he expected to sell 40,000 Ypsilons and 70,000 Gingos -- nicknamed "The Little Devil'' -- once the cars start driving out of showrooms in September. The Idea, due to be released in October, should sell 15,000 units in 2003. Next year, Coda saw Idea sales rising to between 100,000 and 120,000 units, with Gingo sales of 180,000 to 200,000 cars and 80,000 to 100,000 Ypsilons. "These cars will definitely have better margins than the ones we're selling at the moment,'' Coda said, adding that Fiat was still in the process of pricing the models. Coda said he did not think Fiat would have to change its sales targets if war broke out in Iraq, which other carmakers say a war could dent customer demand by 10 or even 15 percent in Western Europe in a worst case scenario. "Our targets for volume and market share are pretty conservative so we are confident that if the market sank because of war the impact would be limited,'' Coda said. Fiat Auto is aiming to grab 30 percent of its key Italian market this year with a Western European market share forecast of between 8.2 and 8.8 percent, compared to 8.2 percent in 2002. Coda said the new models could help boost Fiat's already strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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