Small BusinessFiat to unveil small car for India in 2012
Fiat India Automobile Ltd (FIAL) is developing a new compact car for the domestic market, which will be unveiled in 2012. The car, being developed for the Indian market in Fiat’s facilities in Turin, Italy, will incorporate inputs from Tata Motors. FIAL is a 50:50 joint venture between Fiat Group of Italy and Tata Motors.
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“Fiat has a long tradition of producing small cars that customers wish (for) and are confident of owning one. The upcoming compact car for the Indian market will be broadly in the 1-litre engine configuration and will be priced between Rs 3.5 lakh and Rs 4 lakh,” says Giorgio Gorelli, international sales & marketing director of Fiat.
At present, Fiat fields the Palio, Punto and the imported super premium compact Fiat 500 in the small car segment. “The pricing of the new car will be below the Palio. We see tremendous potential in the A-plus and B-minus segment, which is registering faster growth than other compact segments. This is a space to be explored,” says Rajeev Kapoor, president & CEO of FIAL.
The new car to be unveiled in 2012 will be manufactured at FIAL’s production facility at Ranjangaon plant, which has an annual capacity of manufacturing 200,000 cars and 300,000 engines. FIAL executives did not disclose the investment committed for the development of the new small car.
At the Auto Expo 2010 today, Fiat unveiled a slew of Punto and Linea variants. The imported Grande Punto Natural Power, for instance, is an advanced CNG and petrol-driven car boasting superior features.