Bangladesh to import Fiat Palios from India

Friday, 09 May 2003, 19:30 IST
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MUMBAI: The Indian subsidiary of Italian car major Fiat will soon begin exporting cars to neighbouring countries beginning with Bangladesh, the company said Thursday. Fiat India Pvt Ltd said in a statement here that it would export the first batch of its Palio Version 1.2 by this month-end. The company will also exhibit its two models, the Palio and the Siena at the Motor Show in Dhaka from May 22 to 25. "Showcasing these two cars at the motor show is expected to give an impetus to future orders from Bangladesh," Fiat India said. The company is also exploring other markets in the vicinity. "We have been receiving a significant number of queries from countries like Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Singapore and Nepal for the export of the Fiat Palio. The first firm order for the supply of Palio's to Bangladesh is an important milestone for the company. "The company has already supplied over 70 Palios to Nepal, and has received enquiries for the 1.9 Diesel Palio. We are confident that customers in Southeast Asian markets will be delighted with the Palio experience," said Ananda Mohan Gupta, Director-Commercial, Fiat India. Fiat India commenced exports of the Uno to Bangladesh a few years ago when Dhaka opened up imports. Since then it has exported 350 Unos. The company's recent focus has been on seeding the various target markets and increasing visibility for Fiat's product portfolio, the statement said. Towards this end, Fiat has exported, a few numbers of Palio, Siena and an Adventure in November 2002 to Sri Lanka. In addition, the Palio and Siena are all set, to be showcased at the Jakarta Auto show (May 30 to June 3) in Indonesia, but even before that inquiries and orders for the Palio have been trickling in. Fiat India has a large product portfolio spanning the B and C segments of the market. When the Palio was introduced in India in September 2001, Fiat had already attained 75 percent localization. It was on account of this high local content that car was aggressively priced. Today, Fiat has achieved a level of 87 percent localization of the Palio and 80 percent for the new Siena making it competitive in other neighbouring markets also. This strategy of localization offers major benefits in terms of ensuring consistent quality, reducing transportation time and cost, facilitating better service and overall equipping the system with a high degree of flexibility to respond to the emerging market needs. Till recently, Fiat India has only been concentrating on exporting components to other Fiat facilities worldwide.
Source: IANS
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