FIAT SAYS: Fiat’s evergreen Panda model has just reached another historic landmark as the 1,500,000th example came off the production line at the Fiat Auto Poland plant in Tychy.
The left hand drive car was a 1.3 MultiJet in magnetic blue and is destined for an Italian customer. Production of the Fiat Panda at Tychy began in 2003 and has grown steadily over the years. In 2009, a record number of 285,000 will be produced.
A highly successful car across Europe, the Panda has won several awards – including the prestigious Car of the Year 2004 title – and has remained the biggest-selling segment A car in Europe without a break since 2003.
To illustrate its success, over 93 per cent of Pandas produced in Tychy have been exported to 74 countries, including Japan, Mexico, Italy, Germany the UK, and South Africa of course!
Available locally with a choice of 1.1, 1.2- and 1.4-litre petrol engines, the Panda starts at R111 500 for the 1.1 Active, rising to R154 200 for the 1.4 16v 100HP model. The 1.2 Climbing 4x4 version is the range-topper and it carries a R182 400 price tag.
The Fiat Auto Poland plant in Tychy employs nearly 6 000 people and one car rolls off its lines every 35 seconds. It is forecast that the plant will produce a total of nearly 600 000 cars this year.