Fiat Panda Cross to feature at the “Interfaith Match for Peace”

  • The football champions of today and yesterday will be taking the field on September 1 to celebrate the values of sports, solidarity and fraternity.
  • Fiat will be by their side with a fleet of Panda as Top Partner and Official Car.
  • The new Panda Cross, the extreme development of the SUV concept, which can overcome any obstacle and is capable of attracting an international clientele with a variety of needs, will be showcased at the Olympic Stadium in Rome.
  • A car autographed by the footballers will be donated by Fiat to “Scholas Occurrentes” and “Fondazione PUPI”, the two no-profit organisers of the event.
  • The message of Peace continues to be spread on social networking sites with “Have fun in Peace”.
  • The goal is to consolidate the bonds between Fiat and the world of sports under the sign of universally shared values.

 

Fiat will be taking part as Top Partner in the “Interfaith Match for Peace” on Monday, September 1 at 8:45 p.m. at the Olympic Stadium in Rome. Sponsored by the City of Rome, CONI, FIGC and Lega Serie A, the goal of the event is to exploit the communicative power of sports – and of football, in particular – to promote principles of fraternity and sharing. Faith – of any kind – will become an element of connection and an opportunity for mutual enrichment in everyday life and in sportsmanship.

 

For the occasion, Fiat will be making several Ducato Panorama and a fleet of Panda – customised with the Fiat logo and “Interfaith Match for Peace” graphics – available to organisers to transfer footballers to and from the Olympic Stadium. Courtesy services are not new for the small Fiat because, together with other Fiat models, it has been part of the official fleet which drives the Italian National Football Team to official and friendly matches and to training camps since 2011.

 

The winning team can count on several champions: from 500 and Panda to Freemont and 500L. The brand-new Panda Cross stands out among the top players. Two cars will be showcased outside the stadium for the public at the “Interfaith Match for Peace”, to invite everyone to get to know the extreme development of the SUV concept according to Fiat. Panda Cross combines the drive system and the technical capabilities of a true off-road, the performance and the contents of a SUV, the external dimensions, the efficiency and the agility of a city car and a distinctive style able to put together rational thought and emotion. All this is made even more interesting by a competitive price which is half that of the best-selling large SUVs in Europe.

 

Not by chance, this model was chosen for the event on September 1 organised to overcome differences of nationality or faith under the sign of universal values, such as peace among people, mutual respect and common good. Just like Panda Cross, which, as the name implies, is “cross”, not only because it is able to cross every barrier – with all-wheel drive and Electronic Locking Differential, which it was the first to fit on the market – but also because it attracts diverse customers by providing the answer to all their mobility needs.

 

Panda Cross is a practical example of Fiat’s drive to be close to the people with accessible, technologically advanced products and by supporting major international-level social, sports and cultural events.  This is why Fiat has chosen to donate a Panda Cross to “Scholas Occurrentes” and “Fondazione PUPI”, the two no-profit organisers of the “Interfaith Match for Peace”. The car will be autographed by the champions of today and yesterday who will be taking the field. Names include Javier Zanetti, Lionel Messi, Andrea Pirlo,  Zinedine Zidane, Roberto Baggio, Yuto Nagatomo, Gigi Buffon, Samuel Eto’o and David Trezeguet.

 

The desire for Peace continues on the social networking sites of the Brand through a contagious initiative: “Have fun in Peace”. That’s the message that Fiat will ask its Facebook friends to spread on the net. From 1 September, whoever replaces their profile picture with the Panda decorated with #havefuninpeace may be the protagonist of a nice surprise.

 

Fiat and sport: a lasting bond 

By joining the “Interfaith Match for Peace”, Fiat is reasserting once again its strong bonds with the world of sports with which it shares the same universal values. The brand has always paired its corporate image with many disciplines on any level, including football, basketball, car racing, motorcycle racing, athletics and snow and ice sports.

 

Loyal to the ‘sports for all’ principle set forth in the Olympic Charter, Fiat has chosen to focus on the very many disciplines which are practised everyday on all levels on the fields and in the gyms and swimming pools scattered around the country, in addition to those of absolute excellence. After all, Fiat has always believed in Italian sports and in their healthy, educational value: this is why the brand is Official Sponsor of CONI, the organisation which supports the many local realities making sports accessible to everyone.

 

And so the journey that began more than a century ago, which has always seen Fiat and Italy side by side in the social, industrial and cultural evolution of the country, continues to this day.  Currently, Fiat is engaged on several fronts. It is Top Sponsor of the National Football and Basketball Teams, and Official Sponsor of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) and of the Italian Paralympics Winter Sports Federation (FISIP).

 

The main events that have seen Fiat by the side of Italian athletes include the Olympic Winter Games in Turin 2006, the Olympic Games in London 2012, the Mediterranean Games in 2013 and the Olympic Winter Games of Sochi (Russia) in 2014.  Further back in time, the collaboration between Fiat and the Italian Football Team started in 2000 when, as Technical Partner, Fiat started following the “Azzurri” on their way to the World Championships in Japan and Korea (2002), South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014, as Top Sponsor), in addition to the last two European Championships (in 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, in 2012 in Poland and Ukraine).

 

Recently, Fiat signed a three-year agreement for 2014/2016 with the Italian Basketball Federation (FIP) to be by the side of the men’s, women’s and the under-18 teams. Underpinning the sponsorship are the shared values of team spirit, passion, courage and determination. The agreement consolidates Fiat’s privileged relationship with Italian basketball, as demonstrated by its support in three prestigious Lega Basket Serie A events in 2012: Final Eight, All Star Game and Supercoppa Italiana.

 

The same concept is behind the sponsorship of the Italian Paralympics Winter Sports Federation (FISIP) by means of the Autonomy Programme, an initiative which since 1995 has seen Fiat by the side of people with reduced motor abilities by providing special versions of Fiat group vehicles and as proud sponsor of many top-level sports events. The basic idea of the Autonomy Programme is that guaranteeing mobility to everyone is not only a major moral and civil goal but also a fundamental presumption for the economic and cultural development of modern society.

 

Ultimately, the Autonomy Programme has revealed the need to overcome prejudice and commonplace notions: there is no such thing as “different” competitions but only “different” abilities because all athletes share the same competitive drive and the willpower to overcome the obstacles set before them. The best proof of Fiat’s continual commitment in this field if the involvement as Main Sponsor in some of the highest level sports events of recent years: the Paralympics Games of Sochi 2014, the Italian Disabled Championships Fisip (2014), the Paralympics Alpine Skiing World Cup (2009 and 2013), the Handbike World Championships (2007), the European Ice Sledge Hockey Championships (2007), the Wheelchair Tennis World Cup (2008), in addition to having been Official Partner of the IX Winter Paralympics Games of Turin 2006. 

 

Perseverance, determination and constancy: these values are shared by all athletes of all disciplines, and are a real model for young disabled people who want to approach the world of skiing. Furthermore, since 2007 the Autonomy Programme and Freewhite Ski Team have been organising ‘Autonomy on the snow’, an introductory course to Alpine skiing for children on the skiing slopes of Sestriere.

 

Turin 25 August 2014