Established in Turin in 1899, Fiat was one of the founders of the automobile industry. The Fiat Group's automobile operations are carried out primarily by Fiat Auto Holdings B.V. and its subsidiaries, which sell cars internationally under the Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia and Commercial Vehicles. However, currently Lancia is not sold in the UK market. The Group also controls Ferrari and Maserati, which manufacture luxury sports cars. In early 2002 the Automobile sector adopted a new structure based on four business units: Fiat/Lancia/Commercial Vehicles, Alfa Romeo, International Development and lastly Services. A Unit specialising in aftersale services flanks the core units.

The Fiat Group is a lot more than just vehicles, however. It has leveraged its expertise in the automotive field in an original way, expanding its mission to include the various areas of people and freight mobility: from cars to trucks, from marine engines to aircraft engines and, in more recent years, even space launchers. By drawing on valuable internally developed skills, the Group created, alongside its industrial operations, an increasingly important and varied array of service businesses, which in recent years have provided a growing contribution to its total revenues. The main sectors being agricultural and construction equipment.

Specifically in the UK, the Fiat Group comprises 28 companies, 6 manufacturing plants and 4 R&D centres, employing 5,000 people and generating annual sales of £2.5 billion.

In April 2001 Fiat Auto introduced its Connect Service across Europe. This multimedia, interactive infomobility service opens a new frontier in user technology by offering customers a cutting-edge infomobility platform that embodies the most sophisticated levels of service, customer care and technology. This remarkable achievement in the automotive and satellite communications field was honoured in September 2001 at the Frankfurt Motor Show with the prestigious Automotive Award in the e-communications category.

In addition, Fiat has won a variety of awards. Fiat Punto won the prestigious Car of the Year Award in 1995, with Bravo/Brava going on to win the Award in 1996. This most coveted and prestigious award encompasses 21 European countries, the winner being elected by a jury of 56 motoring writers whose business is to test cars.

Most recently the widely acclaimed Fiat Multipla has won no less that twelve awards since, including from Top Gear: Car of the Year 2000, Best Family Car 2000, 2001 and 2002; Best Compact MPV from Auto Express New Car Honours 2000; Best MPV 2000 from Channel 4 Driven; Best MPV from Fleet World Honours 2000 and Used Car of the Year and Best Used MPV 2002 from Used Car Buyer magazine.

Safety has always been a top priority for Fiat Auto and the Punto's robust construction and comprehensive safety engineering were publicly acclaimed at the What Car? 2000 Awards ceremony in London in February 2000 when Fiat Auto won the magazine's top award for safety, following the Punto's outstanding safety performance in Euro-NCAP crash tests, in which it scored a maximum four-star rating to take it to the top of its class. What Car? noted that Euro-NCAP officials were impressed by Fiat's enthusiasm in its efforts to refine safety performance. The magazine summed up its choice thus: "put all these active and passive safety features together and it's easy to see why the Punto wins this award... Fiat has proved you needn't dig deep in your wallet to enjoy good crash protection."