Fiat expects Indian market to grow in near future

The company would look at its CUV's performance in India before exporting it to the right-hand drive markets

Fiat Group Automobiles India Pvt Ltd (FGAIPL), the Indian subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobile, has said that the overall market for the sector in the country is improving compared to last year and it is cautiously optimistic about the Indian market at present. Launching its Contemporary Urban Vehicle (CUV) Avventura in Chennai, the company also said that it would be deciding on when to start exports of the new vehicle depending upon the sales in India for the next three months.

Speaking to the reporters in the sidelines of the launch of the CUV, Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and managing director of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said that market has been seeing signs such as a stable government and a revival in the process, which has improved the market condition compared to last year.

 

"I am cautiously optimistic about the market growth. We are expecting the positive trend to continue in the near future," he said. He added that the company is expected to see a 50 per cent year on year growth compared to last year, without divulging the numbers.

The company has plans to export Avventura, launched today in Chennai for an ex-showroom price starting at Rs 6.12 crore, in the right-hand drive markets. However, the time of launch would be decided based on the demand it would see in India. "We will have to wait and watch how Avventura performs in the domestic market in the next 30-90 days," he added.

The CUV, which has a localisation level of around 85-90 per cent and designed for Indian roads, will be produced at Fiat's Ranjangaon plant in Pune. The company has received around 500 bookings and 15,000 enquiries for test-drive since the launch of the vehicle last week.

The company currently has 125 exclusive dealerships in 98 cities across 24 states and plans are to start the market campaign for the CUV product soon, he said. He added that the company would launch Abarth 500, Fiat's luxury hatchback vehicle, later this year.