Fiat has said that they have set a target of selling 25,000 units in India in the year 2013 and aim to capture at least 1 percent share of Indian automotive market. They Italian car maker will massively expand their dealership and service network in India and launch many new models. Last year, in 2012, Fiat sold a mere 10,000 units in the country and is one of the lowest selling brands currently. A total number of 2.6 million cars were sold in India in the same time frame of 2012.
Fiat opened its first exclusive showroom in Mumbai recently which is one of their first independent dealerships. Fiat said that they plan to open 65 independent dealerships by March 2013 and 100 dealerships by end of 2013. Fiat has also lined up quite a few launches for this year. They will launch the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler in 2013 as well as performance brand Abarth by the year end. Fiat also said they plan to launch a small Fiat SUV by 2015. Offerings from Jeep will be imported while Abarth cars will be locally manufactured at the company’s plant near Pune.
Fiat said that last year they exported quite a few cars to right hand drive markets like South Africa, Nepal and Sri Lanka, but now they will focus on domestic demand. Tata Motors too produces cars at Fiat’s plant and uses it as an export hub. Fiat said that their main production will be for diesel engines and in spite of rise in diesel prices as well as higher taxes on diesel cars, they expect demand to stay very high. Fiat has a very big task ahead of them to capture at least 1 percent market share in India which is the lowest for Fiat all over the world. In Latin America they have 18 percent share, in North America they have 15 percent share and in Europe they have 10 percent share.
