The
Fiat Siena is the four-door sedan version of the
Fiat PalioThe Fiat Palio is a small family car designed by Fiat as a world car, aimed at developing countries. It is produced in Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, South Africa and China. It is also built under licence in North Korea as the Pyonghwa Hwiparam. Russian ZMA started assembly of Turkish CKD kits in...
, a
supermini carA supermini is a British term that describes automobiles larger than a city car but smaller than a small family car. This car class is also known as the B-segment across Europe, and as subcompact in North America....
especially designed for developing countries. The car is similar to
Fiat AlbeaThe 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...
It is produced in
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
(Betim Plant),
ArgentinaArgentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
(Ferreyra),
TurkeyTurkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
(Bursa),
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(Tychy),
IndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
(Pune),
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
(Rosslyn),
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(Yuelin),
IranIran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(Saveh), and
VietnamVietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
and also built under licence in
NampoNamp'o is a city and seaport in South P'yŏngan Province, North Korea. It was a provincial-level Directly Governed City from 1980 to 2004, when it was designated a "Special City" and made a part of South P'yŏngan...
,
North KoreaThe Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
, as the
Pyeonghwa Hwiparam.
The 1996 Mk. I Series
Launched in 1996 Brazil as the 4-door sedan of the '178 Project'
Fiat PalioThe Fiat Palio is a small family car designed by Fiat as a world car, aimed at developing countries. It is produced in Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, South Africa and China. It is also built under licence in North Korea as the Pyonghwa Hwiparam. Russian ZMA started assembly of Turkish CKD kits in...
, the Siena was made due to the important sales benchmark of notchback models in developing countries. The range was made from Fiasa and Fire petrol engines between 1.0 L and 1.6 L.
The 2001 Mk. II Series
In 2001 the model has the first facelift. The new design was made by the Italian design-guru
Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
. The facelift includes a new front and rear design, and a brand new interior. Also, new engines came as the 16 valve FIRE engines 1.0 L 70cv and the 1.2 L 82cv. In Turkey and China, the Mk. II series gain a 'SpeedGear' Gearbox. With this new design, the small car was finally able to fight for its place in the market, becoming a success in sales. FIAT had considered changing the name to Palio Sedan, due to the lack of interest on the previous Siena, and the solid sales of its biggest competitor, the Chevrolet Corsa Sedan. This idea was later discarded. Up to this point, the FIAT Siena was the only model belonging to the Palio family that had not been well accepted by the community. Therefore FIAT gave special attention to the design of this model in particular, having its rear entirely redesigned.
The 2004 Mk. III Series
The new Mk. III comes in 2004. The designer was again,
Giorgetto GiugiaroGiorgetto Giugiaro is an Italian automobile designer responsible equally for a stable of supercars and several of the most popular everyday vehicles driven today...
. It has a new front, rear and interior design. The '04 Siena was the very first Brazilian compact sedan with 4 airbags (2 at front and 2 sidebags), auto dimming rear view mirror, rain sensor and park assistance, etc. Anyhow all those accessories are very expensive for the Brazilian market and most South American markets so they can be considered just as catalog option or show window purposes only. The engines range in South America from a 1.3 Fire 16 valve, a new 1.4 Fire 8 valve with 80cv (the same of the latest
Fiat PuntoThe Fiat Punto is a supermini produced by the Italian manufacturer, Fiat, since 1993.-1st generation :Internally codenamed Project 176, the Punto was announced in September 1993 and launched in late 1993 as a replacement for the ageing Fiat Uno. The Fiat Punto was voted European Car of the Year...
, and a 1.8 Powertrain 8 valve with 112cv, shared with the Chevrolet Corsa.
In Brazil the top model has been equipped by Flexfuel version of the latter 1.8 Powertrain 8 valve - Gasoline and/or Alcohol - reaching 112 hp with gasoline and 114 hp with alcohol at 5500 rpm. In Mexico is sold as
Palio Sedan, first with the 1.6 16v Torque engine and now with the 1.8 GM Powertrain with 110cv.
In Europe, the new model features a Mk. III front and interior design and a Mk. II rear. The Albea also gained the famous Multijet diesel engine, a 2nd generation common rail turbocharged engine with 70 bhp.
The 2008 Mk. IV Series
In 2008, Fiat unveiled the facelifted Siena. This fourth version of the model has a unique front design, which for the first time is different from the current Palio.
The new Siena follows the new Fiat 'family face', with double front lights and some chrome details in the grille, and around the fog lights. The rear lights are sharp and intregrated with the trunk and appeared to be inspired by models of
Alfa RomeoAlfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
, like the 156 and 159.
The new Siena is in production at Betim (Brazil) and Córdoba (Argentina) with 1.0 8v, 1.4 8v, 1.4 8v TetraFuel (4 different types of fuel), and 1.8 8v engines, flexible for the Brazilian market (capable of using petrol and ethanol). As of 2011, the sportive version - Siena Sporting 1.6R 16v, equipped with Fiat's Dualogic automatic gearbox - were also in production, although Fiat announced that this variant won't be offered anymore from 2012. All the New Siena EL 1.0, EL 1.4 and many ELX versions circulating at Brazil were, actually, manufactured at Argentina, as Betim's factory is still producing only the more expensive versions.
Sales
Brazil:
- 2004 – 40,500
- 2005 – 43,500
- 2006 – 58,500
- 2007 – 61,000
- 2008 – 95,307
- 2009 – 116,064
Siena
In November 2001, the
Fiat PalioThe Fiat Palio is a small family car designed by Fiat as a world car, aimed at developing countries. It is produced in Brazil, Argentina, Turkey, South Africa and China. It is also built under licence in North Korea as the Pyonghwa Hwiparam. Russian ZMA started assembly of Turkish CKD kits in...
debuted on the Chinese market, with either the 60 PS 1.2 liter or the 85 PS 1.5 liter, followed by the Siena in November 2002, and the Palio Weekend in June 2003. The Siena and Weekend were not available with the smaller engine.
Perla
The Nanjing Fiat Perla was launched at the 2006 Auto Guangzhou Motor Show, and is based on the
Fiat AlbeaThe 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...
platform. The car's rear got a more profound facelift for the Chinese market. For example, the rear is longer and lower than the Siena. It has a new 1.7 L MPi engine, air conditioning, dual front airbags, anti-lock brakes, power steering, power windows, central locking, and many other features. The engine has a maximum power output of 96 PS and a maximum torque of 140 newton metre at 4,000 rpm, satisfying the Euro III emission standards. Dimensions are 4316×1705×1480 mm, with the same wheelbase as the Siena of 2439 mm, and a curb weight of 1260 kg (2,777.8 lb). The interior is similar with the one of the Fiat Siena Mk. III.
Since Fiat withdrew from Nanjing in 2007 and SAIC took over, discontinuing the Fiat models, the Perla only had a very brief existence. Russia was meant to be the first country outside China to receive the Perla, but with the 1.4 L Fire 8v engine with 77 PS and the Speedgear transmission.
Safety rating
The
Fiat AlbeaThe 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...
a European version of the Siena, was tested in
RussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
according to the
EuroNCAPThe European New Car Assessment Programme is a European car safety performance assessment programme based in Brussels and founded in 1997 by the Transport Research Laboratory for the UK Department for Transport and backed by several European governments.-History and activities:Euro NCAP is a...
latest standard (Offset frontal crash at 64 km/h). The Albea scored 8,5 points in the frontal test, equivalent to 3 stars. The tested vehicle, was equipped with standard driver Airbag and regular seatbelts.
The Fiat Perla a Chinese version of the
Fiat AlbeaThe 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...
, was tested in
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
by the
China-NCap in three different test; 100% front crash test with a wall (like the US NTHSA test) a 40% offset test (like the EuroNCap) and a side crash test like the EuroNCap.
The Perla scored 8,06 points in the 100% frontal crash test, equivalent to 3 stars; 12.02 pts in the 40% offset crash test, equivalent to 4 stars, and 10,96 pts in the side crash test, equivalent to 3 stars; with an average result of 31 points and 3 stars. The tested vehicle, was equipped with standard driver and passenger Airbag and regular seatbelts.
The Palio was tested in Brazil by the
Latin NCAPThe Latin New Car Assessment Programme is an automobile safety assessment programme founded in 2010 by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Region IV, FIA Foundation, International Consumer Research & Testing and the Gonzalo Rodríguez Foundation...
and scored 3 stars.
External links