Fiat Siena

Fiat Siena

Manufacturer	Fiat
Also called	Fiat Petra Nanjing Fiat Siena Pyonghwa Hwiparam
Production	1996–present
Assembly	Betim, Brazil Ferreyra, Argentina Bursa, Turkey Bielsko-Biała & Tychy, Poland Yuelin, China Pune, India Saveh, Iran Rosslyn, South Africa (Nissan) Casablanca, Morocco (SOMACA) Nampo, North Korea (Pyeonghwa) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Mekong)
Predecessor	Fiat Duna
Successor	Fiat Albea
Class	Small family car
Body style	4-door sedan
Platform	Project 178
Engine	FIRE Engines 1.0 8v, 1.0 16v, 1.2 8v, 1.2 16v, 1.4 8v Fiassa Engines 1.0 8v, 1.3 8v, 1.5 8v Europa/Sevel Engines 1.4 8v SPI, 1.6 8v SPI Torque 1.6 16v E-Torque 1.6 16v Powertrain 1.8 8v Multijet Diesel 1.3 16v TurboDiesel 1.7 8v TD
Transmission	Manual 5 speed (C570) Manual 6 speed Speedgear
Wheelbase	2,373 mm (93.4 in)
Length	4,135 mm (162.8 in)
Width	1,634 mm (64.3 in)
Height	1,425 mm (56.1 in)
Related	Fiat Palio Fiat Perla Fiat Albea Fiat Strada
Designer	Centro Stile Fiat e I.DE.A Institute (Mk.I) Giorgetto Giugiaro (Mk.II–III)

The Fiat Siena is the four-door sedan version of the Fiat Palio, a supermini car especially designed for developing countries. The car is similar to Fiat Albea

It is produced in Brazil (Betim Plant), Argentina (Ferreyra), Turkey (Bursa), Poland (Tychy), India (Pune), South Africa (Rosslyn), China (Yuelin), Iran (Saveh), and Vietnam and also built under licence in Nampo, North Korea, as the Pyeonghwa Hwiparam.^{[citation needed]}

The 1996 Mk. I Series

Launched in 1996 Brazil as the 4-door sedan of the '178 Project' Fiat Palio, 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 Giugiaro. 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 Giugiaro. 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 Punto, 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 (84 kW) with gasoline and 114 hp (85 kW) 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 (52 kW).

The 2008 Mk. IV Series

The Siena EL (variation from the Mk. IV using the monoparabole front lights) is sold at Brazil with 1.0 and 1.4 engines, both 8v. The colors of the car are somewhat distributed by regions; this 'savannah' beige, common at the northweast cities, is rare to be found over the southern of that country. 'Alpine' red and specially 'vitality' blue, by their turns, are quite common in southern cities and very sparse over northweast.

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 Romeo, 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

The 2008 Fiat Siena Tetrafuel 1.4, the first multifuel car that runs as a flexi-fuel on pure gasoline, or E25, or E100; or runs as a bi-fuel with natural gas (CNG). Below is shown the CNG storage tanks in the trunk.

Brazil:

• 2004 – 40,500
• 2005 – 43,500
• 2006 – 58,500
• 2007 – 61,000
• 2008 – 95,307
• 2009 – 116,064

Nanjing Fiat

Siena

In November 2001, the Fiat Palio debuted on the Chinese market, with either the 60 PS (44 kW) 1.2 liter or the 85 PS (63 kW) 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 Albea 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 (71 kW) and a maximum torque of 140 N·m (103 lb·ft) 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 1,260 kg (2,800 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 (57 kW) and the Speedgear transmission.

Safety rating

The Fiat Albea a European version of the Siena, was tested in Russia according to the EuroNCAP 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 Albea, was tested in China 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 NCAP and scored 3 stars.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Fiat do Brasil (in Portuguese)
• Fiat South Africa
• Fiat Turkey
• Fiat China
• Fiat at Unitrans Motors (SA)
• Club Palio Chile
• Team Palio Turkey