Fiat Punto Production Stopped in Serbia Due to Fire Damages

Italian manufacturer Fiat announced a two-week production halt at its plant in Serbia after a fire severely damaged a production hall, company representatives said. Local production is handled by Fiat Automobili Srbija, a joint venture established by Fiat in 2008 when the company purchased 67 percent of domestic carmaker Zastava.

According to a report by Reuters, the fire started in Kragujevac, 80 km south of Belgrade, affected a conveyer system and collapsed a roof panel.

"Production will be halted for about two weeks ... until installations are replaced," Nebojsa Ciric, a state secretary with the Economy Ministry, was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source. "The factory has about 1,300 completed cars on stock and timely deliveries will be secured."

The Zastava production facility was expected to produce 15,000 Fiat Punto units this year, with Fiat planning to invest up to 800 million euro in the country.

Fiat Punto was facelifted in 2003 and is currently sold in Europe with a wide array of engine configurations, including diesel and petrol units, specifically aimed at fuel consumption and emissions.

This is one of the most successful models ever released by the Italian carmaker as the company celebrated the 5,000,000th production model back in 2003 when it also rolled out the latest version of the car. Even if Fiat launched the Grande Punto in 2005, the producer decided to keep the Punto in production, mostly thanks to its success in European markets. The car is also on sale in various non-European countries, such as in Chile, where it was officially released in 2007.