Fiat Chrysler Automobile India appoints Partha Datta as president and MD

Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) India on Wednesday announced the appointment of Partha Datta as its president and managing director, replacing Kevin Flynn, who is now heading the company's operations in Australia.

Datta has assumed the charge of the new position from September 4, FCA India said in a release.

Prior totaking over the new role at the Indian arm of the company, he was the head of North American vehicle integration andvalidation at FCA, where he was responsible for all validation activities across all Jeep, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge and RAM models sold in North America, a release said.

"I am pleased to appoint Partha to his new role in India," said Massimiliano Trantini, chief operating officer, FCA Asia Pacific.

"With his extensive product development experience and intimate understanding of the local market, Partha is the perfect candidate to take over the India operation, particularly given our plans to continue localising new models and exporting Jeep vehicles to right-hand-drive markets around the world," he said.

An Indian origin US citizen, with over two decades at the company, Datta has worked across international industrial and commercial operations, governance, business development projects, engineering and vehicle integration, the release said.

During his tenure at FCA, he was also the director of technical centres in Chennai and Pune, as well as the head of product engineering in China, it added.

"We would like to thank Kevin for his significant contribution to FCA India. Kevin was instrumental in delivering both our commercial and manufacturing objectives over the past five years. Kevin leaves the position with our congratulations on his new appointment in Australia," said Trantini.