Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd (FIAPL), a 50-50 joint venture between Fiat Group Automobiles and Tata Motors Ltd, is going to launch the imported Fiat Bravo and the fully localised Grande Punto in India this year. Twenty-four thousand units of the newly launched Fiat Linea are to be sold nationally this year. The company wants to sell 15% of this number in the east.
“We are expecting to sell 15% of the total 24,000 Lineas in the east, apart from exporting another 3,000,” said Rajeev Kapoor, chief executive officer of FIAPL.
Kapoor was in the city to launch the Linea, whose petrol variant is priced between Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 7.5 lakh and the diesel between Rs 6,95,681 and Rs 8,16,704. All these are Kolkata-specific ex-showroom prices. “50% of the Linea’s components are localised. The plan is to make it 80% by December.”
Fiat India is looking to export the Linea to new markets in Australia , New Zealand and the UK , he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch in the city. The Linea has a 2.6-metre wheelbase and is 4.6 metres in length.
Kapoor, when asked about the effects of the slump the auto industry has been facing owing to the economic meltdown, said, “There is an opportunity during recession as consumers become choosier. With more launches happening, consumers are buying.” He also spoke about the Fiat 500, which is priced in excess of Rs 14 lakh and might be launched in Kolkata in February. It plies on Mumbai roads.
There are about 70 Tata Fiat dealers in the country. Out of this number, nine in the east will be selling the Linea. Fiat India has its manufacturing facility in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra .
Kapoor, quizzed about targets, said the company wants to sell 40,000 units in 2009, and double this in 2010. Linea was first launched in Turkey and is sold in more than 50 countries across Europe , Asia , America and Africa .
Tata Motors is providing impressive after-sales service for the Linea.