FIAT India has frozen launch plans of its own branded cars but that does not stop them from launching vehicles from its other brands. The Italian automaker has stepped up on its marketing activities in the country, first with the launch of FIAT Caffe, following it with offering old customers new features, which are present on the MY 2012 FIAT’s. Now the company is planning to launch Chrysler’s Jeep, in which it has a majority stake as well as bringing in Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
The launch of Chrysler in India is already in secondary stage, as officials from the U.S. automaker recently visited the country to conduct product clinics for the Jeep Grande Cherokee. Jeep is the oldest 4-wheel drive brand in the world, dating back to pre-world war era. The Jeep Grand Cherokee uses the same underpinnings as the Mercedes-Benz ML-Class and is powered by a 3.6-litre, V6 engine producing 280 BHP of power and 353 Nm of torque at 4800 RPM. If you feel that Grande Cherokee is underpowered then Chrsyler will happlly offer you a 5.7-litre HEMI V8 engine, which produces 360 BHP of power and 520 Nm of torque. Both these engines are powered by petrol but FIAT will definitely slap in their Multijet power for the SUV it plans to sell in India. Expect the Grand Cherokee to be priced around Rs. 20 lakhs, competing with the Toyota Fortuner.
The sale if Jeep and other cars from the FIAT stable will be outside of the TATA-FIAT JV. The Jeep vehicles will be brought in through the CKD route and assembled at Ranjangaon. Maserati and Alfa Romeo will be brought in through the CBU route though as the company does not see volumes to justify local assembly. It is not rocket science that Chrysler has shown interest in bringing its vehicles to developing brands like India. Now the question remains, will you buy the Grand Cherokee at Rs. 20 lakhs, which will be backed up by FIAT?
