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| Fiat hopes Linea will boost sales |
| BS Reporter / Kolkata Jan 23, 2009, 00:10 IST |
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The Linea sedan from Fiat India Automobiles Ltd (FIAL), a 50:50 joint venture between India's Tata Motors and Italian Fiat Group Automobiles, was expected to capture a 35 per cent market share in the C+ segment in the first three months.
FIAL was not present in the segment in the country now.
The company targets to sell 24,000 cars in the first year and export around 3,000 cars to right-hand drive (RHD) markets like South Africa first, and subsequently to Australia, New Zealand, and UK. "India will be the manufacturing the base of Linea for the RHD markets", Rajeev Kapoor, president and chief executive officer of FIAL said at the Linea launch in Kolkata.
The Linea is priced between Rs 6.05 lakh to Rs 7.05 lakh for the petrol variants, and between Rs 6.95 lakh and Rs 8.16 lakh for diesel variants, vis-a-vis C segment cars like Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Verna and Maruti Suzuki SX4. A high level of localisation of the Linea kept prices low as it now had 50 per cent local input, to rise to 80 per cent by December 2009.
FIAL's earlier launch, the Palio, a B segment hatchback, was not a segment leader with only two per cent market share.
FIAL sold 4,800 units in India last year driven mainly by Palio sales. It sold the premium category Fiat 500, imported as a completely built unit from Poland, and sold 41 units so far.
"The Fiat 500 was launched to position the brand in the country and the Palio was aimed at giving the dealers a feel of marketing a Fiat car. With the dealership backbone now in place, the Linea will be aggressively marketed.", said a company source. FIAL now had 70 Tata-Fiat dealerships in 47 cities and this number would rise to 90 on the back of two more launches lined up for this year.
A premium category hatchback, Bravo, was set for a launch in the second quarter of the calender year, while the hatchback Grande Punto priced below the Linea would be launched later in the year. Banking on the Linea, FIAL aimed to sell 40,000 cars during 2009, and double that number in 2010. "We will also venture into newer RHD markets during 2010. While the Grande Punto will be manufactured in India, unlike the Linea, India will not be the manufacturing base for this car", Kapoor said. The Bravo would be imported. The Fiat Palio could also see a facelift during 2010, though body panels were likely to remain unchanged.
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