Wednesday, September 07, 2011
By Pranjal Gera
Fiat to open new exclusive dealerships in India
The Italian automobile company Fiat has now made the decision of opening separate dealerships across the country. They have planned to open exclusice Fiat showrooms in 20 major cities of India.
Till this time, Fiat had been selling its cars under the same roof with Tata's cars. They had been in contract with Tata to co-produce and co-sell their cars in India.
However, Fiat's car have not been able to make its mark in the country and have struggled to compete with other companies. This is Fiat's second entry in the Indian market. The last time, they discontinued their run in the country after failing to match up with the new and advanced demands.
The Managing Director of Fiat, Mr. Rajeev Kapoor said that they plan to open 55 dealerships across the country, by the beginning of 2013. He said that these dealerships will be an addition to the present dealerships of Tata-Fiat.
Recently, Ratan Tata had said that their contract with Fiat needed to be revised as venture isn't being fruitful.
Fiat has witnessed a significant drop in sales both last year, as well as this year. Last year there was a drop of 15% in the sales figures. Whereas, this year the drop has become steeper with 23%.
Mr. Kapoor confirmed that the drop in sales and also said that one reason for their decision was the insufficient space available in Tata dealerships.
Fiat is taking serious steps for improving their performance in the country. They had also taken Accenture's services for the same.
Currently, Fiat India is dealing with passenger cars like Fiat Linea, Fiat Grande Punto, Fiat Palio and Fiat 500.
