Fiat to Expand Presence in Indian Market

Hyderabad: Italian car maker Fiat plans to increase its presence in India with a network of dedicated dealers and is also looking at introducing more brands from its global portfolio. Launching Fiat India's first exclusive dealership in Hyderabad Wednesday, Enrico Atanasio, head-commercial, Fiat India, told reporters that they were originally planning 20 dedicated dealers during the current year but now plan to accelerate this. Fiat, which recently ended a six-year distribution agreement with Tata Motors, plans to set up a new company to sell its models in India. Enrico, who would head the proposed company, said through the dedicated dealers they wanted to create a real and stronger brand experience for Fiat. "We consider India as an important market and the company to be set up in near future will leverage this potential," he said. Fiat India, a joint venture between Italian carmaker fiat and Tata Motors limited, currently sells 20,000 cars per year, a market share of 0.7 percent. "I expect a growing role for Fiat in India. Today we are 8 percent in European market, 18 percent in Latin America and 12 percent in USA market. There is no reason why we can't improve our current market situation (in India) which is much much lower," he said but declined to give any figures. "Fiat is one of the best known brands in the world market because of its past. It takes time to move from past to future. We need to train strong force and have right process and people,IJ he said. Fiat's 1100 sedan was sold in India from the mid-1950s to 1997, first as the Fiat 1100 Delight and then as the Premier Padmini. It later sold the Fiat Uno. It currently sells the Linea, Palio and Punto models in India, and is also analyzing introduction of more brands from a portfolio which includes Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. Enrico claimed that there are already good signs of Fiat's performance in India with better results in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of previous year. Fiat India's first dealership Tejaswi Motors has opened in upmarket Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The dealership will retail the Linea and Punto.