In a new partnership scheduled to be announced next week, Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors will supply the Attrage sedan to Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) for sale in Asian markets. The Attrage sedan will be badge engineered as a Chrysler and will be sold in China and other Asian markets. Fiat plans to expand its base in the Asia Pacific region as part of its long term plan and the Attrage will help increase its market share.
Fiat Chrysler currently accounts for 0.6 percent of the market share in the Asia-Pacific region, despite having being in the market for a significant amount of time. Even with limited presence in India, Mitsubishi is a well known brand in Asia and the region accounts for a quarter of its global vehicle sales. Sourcing cheaper and fuel efficient vehicles from Mitsubishi will help the Italian-American automaker to sell volume products in the market.
The Attrage is one of the popular entry-level sedans in the South Asian market and is powered by a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol motor producing 75 PS and 100 Nm of torque. We drove the Attrage sometime back and were pretty impressed with the attributes of the car. As a budget sedan, the vehicle offers space, a frugal engine, fuel efficiency and a pleasing appearance. Mitsubishi had also showed interest in bringing the Attrage to India in the future.
Last month Fiat announced its long term plans for Asia which included locally producing Jeep and Fiat models to expand its base in the Asian market. The company could also look into the Attrage as a potential replacement to the Linea in the future. The current generation Linea is based on the Punto hatchback which will join the 500 family in the next generation, leaving the next gen Linea without much of a donor. The Attrage competes in the same segment and could very well replace the Linea as a rebadged Fiat model with a Fiat powertrain under the hood.
Read The Mitsubishi Attrage Review
