Fiat Marea

The Fiat Marea is a family car available as a saloon and an estate (Fiat Marea Weekend), produced by the Italian automaker Fiat. Launched in 1996, the Marea models were essentially different body styles of Fiat's hatchback offerings, the Bravo and Brava. The Marea replaced the earlier Tipo-based Fiat Tempra. While the Fiat Stilo Multiwagon is the successor of the Marea Weekend, the Fiat Linea is scheduled to replace the saloon version in 2007.

Production and markets

The Marea was originally manufactured in Fiat's Cassino and Mirafiori plants in Italy.[1] Later the Marea also superseded the Tempra in Brazilian (Betim) and Turkish (in Bursa, with Tofaş[2]) plants, which make vehicles mostly for local and other developing markets.

In Europe, production and sales of the Marea ceased in 2002, a year after the Bravo and Brava were replaced with the Fiat Stilo. The Marea Weekend was replaced by the Stilo Multiwagon, while the saloon was dropped altogether due to relatively low popularity of compact saloon cars in Europe. Nevertheless, the Marea (in both body styles) is still manufactured in Turkey and Brazil for local (and other Latin American) markets. The Brazilian version was facelifted in 2001, when it gained a redesigned rear end with taillights taken from the Lancia Lybra.[3][4] For 2006 the Marea was mildly revised again, gaining a new rear end, and a new grille, similar in style to other current Fiat models.[5]

In mid-2007, Brazilian production of the Marea and Marea Weekend ceased; their successor, Fiat Linea, will be produced from mid-2008 on, although it is not sure if it will feature an estate version.

Engines

The Marea petrol and turbodiesel engines 1.4L, 1.6L, 1.8L and 2.0L petrol and 1.9L were sourced from the Brava and Bravo, and a 2.0 20v turbo option from the Fiat Coupé was also available. For a short time there was also a 2.4 turbodiesel available, dropped in 2001, which has become sought after. A Marea BiPower 1.6L dual fuel engine was later added to the range; it may run on either petrol or compressed natural gas.