Italian auto maker, Fiat will be launching Jeep brand in India by next year under which the first vehicle to be launched will be the Wrangler followed by Grand Cherokee. Fiat was expected to bring Jeep brand a tad earlier than the above mentioned time frame, however current slowdown in the domestic market has led the auto maker to delay Jeep’s launch in India. If speculations are to be believed, Fiat will bring Jeep Wrangler in India as a completely built unit and hence the vehicle will attract high excise duty levied on imported cars.
Grand Cherokee on the other hand could be assembled locally in India and hence made available as a CKD. Local assembling will be done at the company’s manufacturing unit located in Ranjangaon and will attract comparatively less excise duty levied on CKDs. Therefore, the company is planning on increasing the production capacity from the current 1.35 units to 2.45 units in the coming four years. As reported earlier, the company is chalking out a plan to roll out six kinds of vehicles underpinning three platforms, powered with six engines and three gearboxes from its Ranjangaon plant.
In current year, Fiat will be launching new generation Punto hatchback, Avvnetura crossover and Abarth 500 in India. Earlier this year, Fiat also rolled out facelifted Linea sedan and it is likely that Punto hatchback will also come with the same changes as sported by the upgraded Linea. Hopefully, introduction of new vehicles under two new brands will help Fiat to achieve an increased market share in the domestic market.
