The three millionth car was produced in Fiat Auto's Melfi plant, one of the most productive plants in the world.

Gianni Coda, president of the Fiat Business Unit, outlined the most important milestones accomplished by the Melfi plant celebrated in the presence of the Basilicata regional president Filippo Bubbico and illustrated the characteristics of the three millionth car, a Punto.

Fiat started producing Puntos in Melfi in1993. The plant had been built two years before. It has a capacity of 1,300 Puntos and Lancia Ys a day. Thanks to the organisational revolution auto plants have undergone, Fiat managed to develop an integrated manufacturing plant, which together with its modularity became the first to adopt an in-built modularity.

In lay terms, this means that the organisation gets inspiration from the principles of 'streamlined production', incorporating lean production, enabling the manufacturer to produce a greater number of different products and variations.

This leads to a redefinition of the producer, simplifying the production process, and reducing the complexity of the production process by diminishing the number of assembly parts and simplifying each and every operation.

The three millionth car produced at Melfi, was a 1.2-litre 16-valve Punto five-door, the most popular version sold in Italy. Since 1993, when the original Punto was launched, over five million Puntos have been sold in Europe. Twenty-five international panels of judges have given awards to the Punto, that is produced also at Fiat's Mirafiori and Termini Imerese plants.