Fiat's new Stilo, the replacement for the Bravo/Brava, won't be available in Ireland until the 2002 buying year.

The car, which debuted at this year's Geneva Show, is built on the first of an all-new platform for the Fiat Group, and is said to be substantially better in quality and specification terms than the current cars.

An envisaged strong demand for the Stilo in Europe, where Fiats in this segment perform better saleswise than they do in Ireland, is part of the reason why the Irish production won't happen until the end of this year.

But no doubt orders can be taken before that. And on the view of the car which IrishCar.Com had at Geneva, it is likely in many respects to put up a very strong challenge to the established competition here.

Expect a strong late 2001 pre-launch campaign to sign up customers here.