FIAT relaunched one of the motor industry's legendary performance and sporting car brands at the Geneva International Motor Show, when it took the wraps off its new Grande Punto Abarth.

The car is the first of a new range of high performance and sporting Fiats, as well as performance and sporting kits for the Fiat range.

Luca de Meo, chief executive of Fiat Automobiles SpA, decided some time ago that Abarth had to be much more than merely a badge attached to certain models in the Fiat range. So the new Abarth division of the company will run its own racing and rally teams, starting with the successful Grande Punto Abarth S2000, which won both the Italian and European Rally Championship titles last year, in its debut season. The new Abarth division will also prepare racing and rally cars for customers in a wide range of series and one-make championships.

For road car customers, Abarth will develop new models for the Fiat range, starting with the Grande Punto Abarth, as well as developing performance and styling packages for the owners of existing Fiat products. Promotion of merchandise and clothing lines will also be a key element in the company's plans for Abarth.

Founded in 1949 by Carlo Abarth, the Abarth company produced classic sporting versions of key Fiat models and ran racing teams that were dominant forces on both the race track and on rally stages. The famous scorpion badge was chosen as a clear indication of what Abarth was all about - small cars with a big sting in the tail!

"The link with tradition is not just an idea, but tangible and concrete," says Luca de Meo. "This is a real rebirth."