Fiat’s Pune plant to become export hub

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Roudra Bhattacharya: New Delhi, Jan 16 2013, 00:43 IST

years, of which four will be from Jeep. The imported Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models will come this year, while two more smaller SUVs in the B segment priced R10-12 lakh and C segment in the price bracket of R14-15 lakh are under development and will be launched by 2014-15. “The B-segment SUV will be totally new and India will be a pilot market before we take it worldwide. In terms of size, it will be similar to the Renault Duster or Ford Ecosport. Over the next quarter, there will be massive market research in India,” Atanasio said.

The strategy to make India a global hub for compact cars and SUVs follows declining sales in its primary European market and the search for new geographies. India, which is similar to Brazil where Fiat is the market leader, offers a low-cost manufacturing destination with a huge captive market and a competitive component vendor base. It also has close proximity to various emerging export markets in Africa and South Asia.

Nissan already exports over two times more cars from India than it sells at home, while Hyundai exports 39% of its local production.

Fiat itself will launch another B-segment SUV, expected to be priced below Jeep at around R7-8 lakh. Meanwhile, the Punto and Linea range will be refreshed and the range expanded with new models.

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