Fiat’s German officials have told a local dealer conference Italian automaker will launch a raft of new models next year, starting with the 500 convertible arriving in April and the new Doblo following suit in September. In October, the pack will be joined by the new Grande Punto.

In Germany, the Fiat 500 convertible is expected to sell 5,000-6,000 units a year, costing some EUR 2,200 more than the regular 500 runabout.

Separately, production of the current-version Fiat Grande Punto hit the 1,000,000th mark November 24, with the milestone car coming off the production lines of the company’s Melfi site.

With the current-generation Grande Punto launched back in 2005, the model comes on the heels of Fiat’s two best-sellers. The first Punto, available from 1993 to 1999, had a production total of some 3.5m units, followed by the second-generation car, launched in 1999 and currently sold as the Punto Classic, whose production volume has topped 3 million units to date.

Rafal Zaglewski