FIAT SpA, Italy's largest manufacturer, said fourth-quarter profit jumped 26 percent as it grabbed a greater share of the European car market and boosted sales of trucks and tractors.

Net income advanced to 570 million euros (US$833 million) from 452 million euros a year earlier, Turin, Italy-based Fiat said yesterday in a statement. Profit beat the 545 million-euro median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Sales rose 14 percent to 15.8 billion euros.

Chief Executive Officer Sergio Marchionne brought Fiat back to profit in 2005, the first since 2000, by introducing new models and cutting costs by sharing more components among cars. He is leading expansion in emerging markets, including joint ventures with China's Chery Automobiles Co and India's Tata Motors Ltd.

The company confirmed a target of 2008 profit of 2.4 billion euros to 2.6 billion euros and said it expects revenue of more than 60 billion euros, up from 58.5 billion euros in 2007.

Fiat expects a limited impact from stock market turbulence and said global consumer spending probably won't be "depressed."