Fiat India is systematically strengthening its foothold in India. It sells its models through Tata Motors dealerships to reach out to a large base of customers pan-India. It is also phasing out older models and introducing new models and their different variants. The company has now decided to phase out its compact hatchback model Palio from the Indian domestic market. The model has been consistently showing declining sales since more than past one year.
Fiat is now concentrating on its more successful models like Fiat Grand Punto and Fiat Linea in the Indian market. It intends to sell at least 45,000 units in the current fiscal year. It has also introduced 1.3L multi-jet diesel model of Grand Punto at Rs. 6.79 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). “Through this new variant, discerning consumers will be given the perfect opportunity to enjoy both high power and a fun-to-drive experience. It will help consolidate our position within the ‘performance diesel' segment,” said Fiat India President and CEO Rajeev Kapoor. The model will compete with models like Hyundai i20 and Maruti Swift.
Fiat also intends to bring a new compact car by 2012 in India. The proposed new small car would be manufactured at Fiat’s Ranjangaon plant in Pune and compete in a segment which accounts for about 60% of the Indian car market and will be positioned below Grand Punto.
