Fiat India will introduce a small car in India and was expected to take place in 2012 but recently at a press conference, the Chief executive officer of Fiat India Rajeev Kapoor said that as of now the company is focusing on the current line-up only and will not introduce any new model till 2013-14.
However we told earlier Fiat India plans to be very aggressive in 2012, by launching facelifts of both the Linea and Grande Punto, followed by a small car which is expected to be priced between Rs. 3-5 lakhs. Soon later, the news of the all new Panda making it to India emerged and now everything seems to have been cancelled. Because Fiat India CEO has said they plan no car launches in 2012 and will only concentrate on consolidating their position along with building up independent dealerships in the country.
“(There would be) no new car in short-term. It would come around 2013-14. We would look to refresh the look of these cars so that the newness comes out and of course a new product has to come. We are working on a new product. But at the side we are looking at building on the network and brand. We would focus on bringing in a new brand strategy to bring out the Italianess of the brands. We are not going separate ways. But our approach to the market is being done differently now. We feel that both the brands should be seen differently. The same dealer will have to open two dealerships in a different location/showrooms,” Rajeev Kapoor, CEO, Fiat India, said.
For now Fiat India is actually planning to do is to focus on the current crop of cars, the Grande Punto and Linea. These cars have a huge potential which Fiat has finally realized and plan to ensure they sell in good numbers. The company will also open 20 Fiat branded exclusive showrooms, which will help them to create their own brand identity in India. Although this is certainly good news, we are a bit disappointed to know that the Punto Evo, Linea refresh, Bravo, Panda and Uno are not coming in the near future.
Also see – Fiat India to launch small car for India
Source – FinancialExpress.com
