Asia Bizz: Italian auto giant Fiat is all set to introduce some of its global brands in the Indian market. By making this move, the company is expected to ensure that its presence more prominent in the Indian market.
The Italian brand will be introducing Chrysler vehicles and recently a team from Chrysler was in India to survey the market so as to introduce SUV Jeep Grand Cherokee in the Indian market. The new vehicle will be competing against Toyota Fortuner, Ford Endeavour and Nissan X-Trail.
In the future, the company also introduced some of their luxury brands like Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Ferrari through direct channel. The company has planned to bring the Chrysler models in India as CKD and will be assembled at the Tata Facility in Ranjagaon, Maharashtra.
The models to be introduced will be outside the 50:50 joint venture between Tata and Fiat, where Fiat manufactures engines and transmission for both the brands. The brands Maserati and Ferrari are available in India and are imported by dealers. In the coming months, the CBU imports will be directly controlled by Fiat. The company overall has never found success in the Indian market despite the fact that Maruti and Tata vehicles use their engines. Moreover, Fiat vehicles are better looking vehicles in the segment but their sales are affected due to the brand image.