While Fiat SpA reported a 76% fall in third-quarter profits yesterday, the core Fiat Auto part of the group recorded a profit of €51m on sales up 28% at €5.5bn, against a loss of €85m a year earlier, mostly due to the success of its Grande Punto supermini.

Fiat SpA earned €195 million in the third quarter, down from €818 million a year earlier, but still above analysts’ consensus forecasts. Group revenues increased 11.4% to €11.8 billion.

The fourth quarter of last year saw Fiat Auto break a chain of 17 successive quarterly losses.

Fiat also launched a new Fiat logo yesterday, with lettering on a red background reminiscent of the logo its cars sported up to 1968, since when two successive new logos were in use. At the end of next January Fiat will launch the next Bravo, the successor to its Stilo lower medium car.