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 Base
on the old UNO platform, Fiat has recently created its first so-called
"World Car". This world car is very unlike Ford Mondeo, it is mainly
destined
to those developing countries rather than Western Europe and North
America.
So let us call it "Third World Car" !
Despite
of
brilliant packaging,
styling and new engine, the UNO chassis is still short on handling,
riding
and torsional stiffness. We understand that the people in developing
countries
are usually less demanding on driving fun, but is Palio good enough to
fight against Japanese cars ? or the winning key depends on
productivity
and the co-operation with governments ?
Palio
will never
re-import
to Western Europe because its more-advanced brother, Punto, responsible
for there. It will be produced in Brazil, Argentina, India and perhaps
finally in my home-country, China. Production has started in Brazil,
where
used to be the biggest overseas market of Fiat. Not all Palio will be
the
same, they will be modified according to the needs of the market, for
example,
the Brazilian Palio can drink lower RON petrol as well as a mixture of
petrol and alcohol.
Fiat
is currently
negotiating
with the governments of India and China about the set-up of their
production
facility. If everything goes right, the annual production of Palio will
easily exceed 1 million per year and become the no. 1 seller in the
world. |