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. It is the replacement for the Siena in Europe and has been in production since 2002. It has a similar design with its South American equivalent but a longer wheelbase. It is a low cost sedan, aimed to developing countries markets. The Albea was designed by the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. A facelifted version is available since 2006, with a new front end, no moldings and the round Fiat badge on the center of the trunklid. Sales of the... Albea have been slow over the past 3 years-due to the fact that the Albea is only sold in a few Eastern and Western European markets, in 2005 sales totalled 4,000 units, in 2006 sales totalled 3,500 units. For 2008 Fiat plans a large expansion for the Albea. Based on the new Siena, Albea Mk.II will be used as Fiat's tool for success in Russia. Fiat is planning to make 50,000 Albeas in Russia next year-as part of its joint venture with Sollers JSC. The car is also to hit Indian markets. The Albea was tested in Russia according to the EuroNCAP latest standard .
more