UPDATE 1-Fiat aims for up to 3 pct of compact car segment
(Recasts lead with market segment share target)
ROME, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Fiat (FIA.MI) brand head Luca De Meo said on Tuesday he aimed to almost double the Italian automaker's share of the most important car segment in Western Europe with the launch of the Bravo.
"(We're going for) 2.5 to 3 percent of the C segment," he told Reuters, using industry terminology for the compact part of the market.
"Our target is to sell 120,000 (units) per year, and then we'll see," he said, referring to the worldwide target set by Fiat for the new five-door car.
De Meo, speaking on the sidelines of a gala dinner where the car was unveiled to journalists, did not give a timeframe for reaching 3 percent of the C segment in the region.
Fiat has previously targeted 8 percent of the entire Western European market in 2007, but had not broken down its targets by segment. In 2006, it had 7.6 percent of the market.
Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne told reporters before the dinner that the Bravo was Fiat's first step back into the C segment in six years.
"We are building up our muscles to play in the most important segment in Europe," he said.
In 2006, it ranked 15th with 1.6 percent of the C segment, according to preliminary estimates from J.D. Power, behind rivals such as Volkswagen (VOWG.DE).
The segment is key for automakers in the region because the profit margin on such a car is wider than that made in the A and B segments that comprise the smallest cars on the market.
"It is the only segment that gives two things to automakers: volume and profitability," De Meo said in a speech at the dinner.
Fiat is best known for cars in segments A and B such as the Panda and Grande Punto, both of which were successful in 2006.
The Bravo succeeds the Stilo, which has been deemed a disaster since its launch in 2001.
Marchionne said Fiat's next C Segment model would be the Delta HPE for its Lancia brand in the second quarter of 2008, followed by the Alfa Romeo 149 in the second half of 2008.
All three brands -- Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo -- belong to the Fiat industrial group, which also includes truckmaker Iveco and farming equipment maker CNH (CNH.N).
Marchionne reaffirmed Fiat's aim of having a market share of more than 30 percent in Italy in 2007.
((Editing by Braden Reddall; Reuters Messaging: gilles.castonguay.reuters.com@reuters.net; +39 02 6612 9507; fax +39 02 801 149; milan.newsroom@news.reuters.com)) Keywords: FIAT/
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