Brazil 2010 vehicle sales rise to record - source

* 2010 vehicle sales up 10.6 pct to record 3.33 mln units

* Fiat leads sales with 760,495 vehicles, followed by VW (Adds fourth consecutive record in 1st paragraph, sales breakdown in fifth and sixth paragraphs)

SAO PAULO Jan 3 (Reuters) - Sales of cars and light trucks in Brazil rose to a fourth consecutive annual record in 2010, underscoring a boom in lending that has made Latin America's largest economy a top market for global automakers.

Sales jumped 10.6 percent in 2010 from 2009 to 3.33 million units, a source with knowledge of the figures told Reuters on Monday.

Sales in December reached 361,300 vehicles, also the highest-ever monthly figure, the source said.

Automakers such as Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI), Germany's Volkswagen AG (VOWG.DE) and U.S.-based General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N) have counted on Brazil's sales boom to offset weak markets in developed nations. The country has recently lured manufacturers from China and new investments from Japanese and French companies looking to grasp a piece of the market.

Fiat led sales in Brazil in 2010 with 760,495 vehicles, 3.2 percent higher than in 2009, followed by VW with 700,354, a 2.3 percent gain, the source said.

GM had 657,700 units sold, 10.4 percent more than in 2009, while Ford's sales jumped 10.6 percent in 2010 to 336,281.

Fenabrave, the Sao Paulo-based association for dealerships, is set to release official figures for December and for 2010 this week