Friday, July 08, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Fiat to launch new cars in India through Completely Built Unit (CBU) route
The Italian Auto company Fiat recently unveiled its plans of launching new car models in the Indian market through CBU route. The company said that they will be launching a compact car by 2012 which might be built along the lines of Fiat Palio Stile.
Presently, the company has a joint venture with Tata Motors and Fiat cars are sold via Tata outlets.
Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, President and CEO of Fiat India said that there are a number of routes and opportunities via which a new vehicle can be launched in the /Indian market and the company is closely examining the best possible way.
He also commented on the progress of the new small car and said that research is being done at the company’s R & D center in Turin, Italy, where the company is trying to make the car as compatible to the Indian market as it could be.
The company first announced that it will develop a small car especially for the Indian market in the Auto Expo 2012. With the company’s plan to localize 80-85% of parts,the car will be produced at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra.
Also in a new move, the company sent 2 of its current directors on the 10-member board, Giovanni Bartoli and Harald Jakob Wester back to Italy and replaced them by Gianni Coda and Alessandro G Baldi.
