Fiat cars in India

by CARAZOO INDIA

In the crowd of Maruti Suzuki, Honda, Hyundai, Chevrolet, BMWs and Mercedes, most of us have forgotten the grand old status car manufacturer Fiat. The company has been associated with India for at least five decades. It had almost gone into oblivion when the car is coming back with a bang. It has a lone survivor in the name of Fiat Palio Stile. But now it has lined up a series of seven cars which have been highest sellers in Europe and Americas��. Fiat will be launching Europe favorite 500 (Cinquecento in Italian), Bravo, Linea, Alfa Romeo, Grand Punto, Ferrari and others. Fiat may again rule Indian roads just as the grand old cars like Premier and Premier Padmini did. For this it has tied up with Indian auto giant Tata Motors. Mr Rajeev Kapoor, Chief Executive Officer of Fiat India has elaborated in length about the company��s future plans. He said ��The Company will begin where it left. Fiat cars were style and status symbol. The new cars will also hit the markets on the same line.�� The Cinquecento will be a style statement. The base version would cost Rs 12 lakh onwards. The cost will initially be high as it will be a completely imported car to India. For the first time, Indian car buyers will be treated with an array of options for customization. We are also contemplating to provide every car owner more than 500 options to personalize their cars. In this sense each car will be unique. In future we plan to design cars for select customers who like to own exclusive cars. However, customization will add to the cost of the car. But that is the price for specialty cars. Cinquecento will be launched in 2008 along with Bravo and luxury saloon Linea. They have been successful in Europe and we hope that Indian buyers will also appreciate them. Bravo will be a hatch in the same price range. However it will lack the customization features of Cinquecento. Linea will be available in the third quarter of this year, when the festival season is at it high in India Linea will be available in1.3 liter diesel and 1.4 liter petrol engine options. Each of these versions will be available in several variants. The Grand Punto will be released in 2009. But the cost of the car will be announced prior to its launch date. Grand Punto will be the biggest hatch back in the segment. Alfa Romeo will also be launched later next year. However, the date of launch has not been finalized. ��The launch of Ferrari has been delayed. It will be launched in India after a feasibility study.�� said Mr Kapoor. All these cars will be brought in as completely built units (CBU) which will attract 100 % import taxes. This will push the prices of cars higher up. This means the car will be costlier than its original price in Europe. Fiat is coming back with more models than ever before. The servicing of cars will be taken up at Tata Motors service stations. These cars will cater to customers from weekday-to- weekends. India will again become a melting pot of old and new cultures.