Fiat Picks New Director To Steer Palio Launch

Fiat India has replaced its director (commercial) Raoul Picello ahead of the launch of its world car Palio in India. Vijay Chandorikar, head of Fiat Sundaram Auto Finance, Fiat's financial subsidiary, will take up the new assignment.

Picello, the company said, has left India "for personal reasons." Chandorikar is understood to have flown to Fiat's global headquarters at Turin, in a preparatory move before taking charge. He is also the first Indian to take over the commercial director's position since Fiat entered India.

Maurizio Bianchi, Fiat India managing director, confirmed the development in a faxed reply, but was not available for further comments.

"Vijay Chandorikar is expected to provide a strong sales and marketing leadership in the important phase of Fiat automobiles plans in India. The commercial director's position is an important one in order to execute Fiat's strategy in India, which is one of the key market for Fiat Auto," Bianchi said in the faxed reply.

Fiat, which is planning to introduce the Palio during the current calendar year, is hoping to reverse its sliding sales through the launch. The company hopes to sell 50,000 units of Palio during the first year of production, from an installed capacity of 60,000 units at its Kurla plant.

During 2000-01, the company's sales declined by 54 per cent over the previous fiscal. The company offers the Fiat Uno in the B-segment, and the Siena and Siena Weekend in the C-segment.