Fiat plans to roll out over 60,000 cars from its Ranjangaon plant near Pune by end-March 2011. This will be twice the number of cars expected to be produced this fiscal.
The company's initial projections were 70,000 cars during 2009-10 but the global slowdown last year affected a whole lot of potential export markets from India. Consequently, numbers had to be revised downwards.
By December 2011, the company will have put out in the market its new small car priced under Rs 4 lakh. This is expected to be a key growth driver in the coming future, Mr Rajeev Kapoor, President and CEO, Fiat India Automobiles told Business Line.
The company launched two petrol variants of the 1.2 litre Grande Punto on Monday with price points of Rs 4.57 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi) and Rs 4.87 lakh apiece. From Fiat's point of view, the idea is to offer more features at a competitive price.
This aggressive pricing for the Punto is expected to help the company grow its position in the B plus segment occupied by models like the Hyundai i20, Suzuki Swift and VW Polo. The existing version of the Punto does monthly numbers of around 1,500 units and sources say that the new variants could help numbers get closer to the 2,500-unit mark.
Fiat also manufactures the mid-sized Linea at Ranjangaon which has been averaging around 1,000 units a month.
During 2010-11, the company is also looking at launching a more powerful 1.3 litre Multijet diesel which can generate 90bhp as well as a high-powered 1.4 litre petrol engine. The company is also evaluating the possibilities of bringing a 1.6-litre diesel in the near future.
Global hub
Fiat plans to use the Ranjangaon facility as a key global car hub eventually. The idea is to optimise India's skills as a low cost, high quality sourcing base. The plant is part of the joint venture with Tata Motors which also manufactures engines and transmissions.
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