According to a senior official who is supposed to drive the Indian operations of Fiat SpA, the company is looking at the possibility of introducing all its brands in the country. In order to boost its markets share, it is mulling over launching its Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat Commercial and other brands in the domestic market. The Italian manufacturer has recently broken its alliance with its domestic distribution partner, Tata Motors. Fiat India has over 100 showrooms on its agenda, which are to be set up by the end of 2014.
Head of commercial operations, Fiat India Automobile, Enrico Atanasio, said, "We are investigating all the brands... we have a huge number of brands and models that we can look at, including those from the Chrysler stable."
Atanasio will be spearheading the Indian division of the Italian manufacturer as the Managing Director (MD) within the next few weeks. He stated that the car maker is willing to import, assemble or domestically produce the models under the new brands that will be launched in India.
Stating that the car maker is focussing on expanding its portfolio, which currently caters only to compact and mid range sedan segments, Atanasio said, "Today we're in an unsatisfactory place in terms of market share." He further added, "Once we fulfil the network, we'll be looking at other segments above and below that."
Previously, Fiat ended its six year distribution and marketing contract with domestic giant Tata Motors. In a period of just 15 days, the Italian car maker has gone ahead and opened its first two exclusive Fiat showrooms. It is eyeing a vast network comprising 110 showrooms located in 70 Tier I and II cities in India over the next 18 months. Earlier, its cars were sold alongside the Tata Motors vehicles in jointly run showrooms.
Stressing on the point that there will be no joint showroom within these 18 months, Atanasio said, "There are a number of dealers that are scouting for a site or finalising activities in preparation for a showroom. All of them are Fiat-Tata, and therefore will migrate from a shared showroom to a dedicated Fiat one." Further adding, he said, "A dedicated network will do better. Obviously, when there is an alternative on offer then sales suffer."
The decision to go solo was taken at a time when companies like Ford, Honda and Nissan are taking more control of their own operations, while Fiat has reported disappointing sales figures over many years. This car maker will continue producing vehicles and powertrains in collaboration with Tata Motors in the domestic market. The company's portfolio includes Linea, Palio and Punto models, with sales of 20,000 units annually in the country.
