[Vikram9193]

Stellantis makes the nicest small EVs. Between the Fiat 500/600, Topolino, upcoming Panda and Jeep Avenger they have all the bases covered for the Indian mass market. With the Japanese asleep at the EV wheel (if not dead in the water), and the Chinese tsunami diverted by Indo-China geopolitics, this might be an opportunity for them to build out a full fledged EV ecosystem in India. The key will be to get costs down enough to crack the sub-10 lakh space.

If India can become the hub for the coolest small capacity motorcycles in the world, why not the coolest small EVs?

[sandeepmdas]

vapourware:
software or hardware that has been advertised but is not yet available to buy, either because it is only a concept or because it is still being written or designed.


I think we should have a separate section to post threads related to vapourcars.
- Nissan's multiple new launches scheduled for the festival season
- Renault's Duster replacement
- Ford's reentry
- Tesla's sojourns

Phew , the Jimny is finally off this list along with the Honda Elevate.

Originally Posted by sajands

Stellantis or FCA have no set leadership/plan or approach to any of its brands.

Many Indian PSUs have far more imaginative and sincere leadership than these two, Renault, Nissan and Honda.

[riturajsharma19]

No one ever doubted the quality of Fiat's offerings. The main issue was that Fiat in India was not at all customer centric and their "sell it and forget it" attitude eventually led to their downfall. If they haven't learnt their lessons from their previous venture in India, they better stay away.

[Jeroen]

I am not sure Alfa Romeo and India are a likely successful partnership. Alfa Romeo tried several times to break into the Us market and always failed miserably for a variety of reasons.

I don’t understand the Fiat/Alfa Romeo strategy at all. They have hardly any cars, nothing really new in the pipeline and are struggling in their home markets in Europe.

To think you can capture market share in India with a tiny line up of cars made in Europe is simply utterly naive. Many western companies have found out that although the Indian market, whatever you want to sell, is potentially huge, making actual money in India is not for the faint of heart!

Alfa Romeo after sales service in Europe is almost non existent. Dealers have no parts in stock even for brand new cars. That is, if you can find a dealer in the first place.

Remarkably, Alfa Romeo has a very loyal fanbase. Truth be told, most of them drive second hand Alfa’s. In Europe there is a thriving second hand market for Alfas including many excellent workshops that specialise in Alfa’s. They also have access to a by and large pretty good aftermarket spare parts circuit.

As long as you don’t need to rely on the official AR dealer you are good. Although the newer AR are pretty reliable, I have my doubt about how they would hold out in a market such as India. They are pretty cars. And as with most pretty things in life, it likely means they are finicky and high maintenance!

Yes, both Fiat and Alfa Romeo do make nice cars. Not many, but at least they do stand out from the crowd!

Jeroen

[desdemona]

Our 3 current (out of 5 in all over last 20 years) FIATs have never been a greater ease and pleasure to own and use and service. Ironic is it not? After the brand's departure! How so? All parts online through 99rpm.com, all service (8 out of 10 is my grade here in Delhi NCR, since Landmark group took over when JEEP launched, and FIAT departed )through JEEP.

In other words FIAT suffered because it got into spirals of lowish sales volumes at low margins-->financially weakening dealers-->dips in parts inventory, dips in dealer overall quality including hr--->......disrepute in a marketplace already phobic about nonMaruti, nonHyundai, nonTataMAHINDRA service. And....spiral, away.

The only way to have broken it would've been to have launched all new mass market replacement models much sooner AND successfully at that. Well since they were not willing to do so (allocate 1000s of crores of fresh capital)....until JEEP launch whose investment case too was, for a rigorous global management (Marchionne) more about engine sales and exports, rhd exports to Japan, Australia etc from a jv, risk-pooled plant than india per se: FIAT had to be withdrawn.

Parallel diagnostics apply to every firm here outside the oligopolistic top 3 or 4 firms: from Renault-Nissan to Honda to Gm, Ford and vw skoda.

Except that Stellantis, nee FCA, has NOT accumulated 1000s of crores of losses like these others.

And now has both the economies of scale partly via Tata, and Citroen too in India in BOTH distribution and engineering/development plus manufacturing. And with crisis ridden FiatGroup, then FCA, then PSA now as Stellantis: among the most profitable, and biggest auto firms with very high free cash flow, industry best revenue AND margin per car sale, as well as per employee.

I.e., they can finally afford to go big (risk wise) in India (where every firm seems to struggle with accumulating losses, barring top 3 or 4 firms) based on economies of scale in manufacturing, engineering AND sales plus service. In and for India, plus the exports of engines and cars

So will they? Should they? introduce FIAT and Alfa (i.e.,4 or 5 new made in India models, plus ckd s) "Not!"

[Durango Dude]

First it was Jeep in FIAT out, now we have FIAT and Alfa Romeo in and Jeep out?? Looks like some one at Stellantis is playing "love me love me not" with the brands in their basket when it comes to India. I can take a bet that they'll not have a clue as to how to go about even after a century from now, they're that good at reading the market and after sales service is/was bad (that's the reason for FIAT's exit along with long in the tooth products) though their products are desirable...

[abhkop]

I guess that this just to keep the press engaged for a day to two. Nothing is going to happen in reality. Seeing the performance of Jeep and Citroen, their exit looks inevitable until Stellantis wants to burn some cash.

[Gamemaztr]

The Fiat Cars were nice to drives. I remember being a passenger in a Fiat Linea and boy! it was so pliant on the bad roads of Ratnagiri.

Stellantis requires a proper person who understands India market to lead Fiat in India. They need to first introduce products which attract themselves back to the brand, overhaul their service network and listen to customer's feedback.

Anyways they might have already started the process of preparing paperwork to lay off Jeep and Citroen staff and not bother to enter this crazy market, the policies of which are made by one of the most technically updated experts in the field of automobiles (pun intended).

[Biraj]

My initial reaction when I read the headline “Stellantis considers re-launching Fiat and introducing Alfa Romeo in India”



As a Fiat fan, it was sad to see its fall, despite the writing having been on the wall for years. I had to sell the Punto last year due to the NGT, and the Linea Tjet remains in my garage, purely because of love. My limited usage doesn’t mandate a second car, but it’s difficult to part with the Linea Tjet, a car I consider to be ‘emotions on wheels.’ My first choice for a new car was the Jeep Compass, but given the kind of experience I had with Landmark Fiat/Jeep, and it being the only dealer in NCR, I had to grudgingly leave it out.

Fiat manufactured some great products, ones that ‘connected’ with the owners, but really made a mess of selling and maintaining them. This was all because of a questionable and, at times, baffling strategy. Fiat forums and communities here and on other platforms were great channels for feedback and free recommendations for Fiat management, but they chose to ignore all that and go with conventional wisdom for selling unconventional products.

FCA/Stellantis seems lost in figuring out their positioning in this market. On one hand, they are launching barebones hatchbacks, and on the other, they’re increasing the price of their already overpriced premium products. They might have found success as the car equivalent of Royal Enfield, thanks to a loyal and once-large (though perhaps shrinking) fan base. Becoming a mass-market player, however, demands a different mindset, planning, and logistics—elements that seem to be missing at present.

I haven’t seen much change in their strategy over the years; it’s usually too little, too late. I still hope they would hire people who understand the market and have the courage to make bold decisions. They might as well go out fighting rather than meekly surrendering this market.

[volkman10]

Stellantis could bring back Fiat brand to India.

Unveiled earlier last month, Stellantis’ STLA M platform is understood to be making its way to India with the next-gen Jeep Compass in 2026 along with Citroen’s next-generation models, which will also use the same platform.



Stellantis' STLA M platform will form the basis for future Jeep, Citroen and Fiat models, and could be the base for the Italian brand’s comeback.

The STLA M is the first of four global BEV-centric platforms that will underpin a range of future models from several Stellantis Group brands. It’s a modular platform, which means it can underpin vehicles of a wide variety of sizes ranging between 4.3 metres to 4.9 metres long – essentially in the C- and D-segments – with wheelbases between 2.7 metres and 2.9 metres.

Models based on the platform will be either front-, rear- or four-wheel drive, with the latter using a dual-motor set-up. Power outputs for the vehicles will range between 215hp and 382hp, and the battery packs will be sized up to 98kWh, returning more than 700km of range on the WLTP cycle.

The flexibility of the STLA M platform allows for a variety of body styles, including sedans, crossovers and SUVs. It has also been designed to minimise weight and deliver improved ride and handling compared to the outdated PSA and FCA platforms that underpin much of Stellantis’ current line-up. While it has been designed with electrification at its core, thanks to its flexibility, it's also understood to support ICE powertrains.

Stellantis evaluating commercial viability of relaunching Fiat

Stellantis is understood to be evaluating the commercial viability of relaunching the Fiat brand in India and how it could be marketed differently. The Stellantis Group currently has three plants in India – one in Hosur, one in Ranjangaon and one in Thiruvallur – so it remains to be seen how the company rationalises production for the upcoming STLA M vehicles across its manufacturing facilities in India.

Link

[sid3091]

Originally Posted by RedMaw

Stellantis weighs Fiat relaunch in India

https://m.economictimes.com/industry.../102479943.cms

If Alfa Romeo launches in India - I know what my next purchase is. I don't even mind trading my '22 Compass in early for it.

[shankar.balan]

How can one not love Fiat…
But then the Company Bosses don’t love us back.
Everytime I see one of these super rare Fiat 500’s my heart sings.
And everytime I watch this ad my heart sings even more.

https://youtu.be/y2bVqT65K4o

But then I am in India and not in Europe and more is the pity because Fiat doesn’t apparently care about this market.

[PaddleShifter]

Apologies for being negative. Time and again, FIAT has done the same thing. Launch a few cars and then keep selling them for a decade without much feature updates. Then pack the bags and leave only to come back with fresh products (max 2-3 models).

Punto was developed in 2005 and was launched in India in 2009. The same car was kept on the showroom floor for a whole decade before BS6 norms kicked in. The car I bought did not even have a USB port (the USB port was part of Microsoft Blue&Me, not the head unit). Mechanically, the car still offers segment leading quality of ride and handling. My 1.4 lacs km run Punto with busted factory fitted suspension runs better than most brand new cars when it comes to the ride quality. But there is no place to keep the phone for navigation. The Blue&Me does not work with current phones as it was designed to work with Nokia, Blueberry, Motorola Razr, Moto Rocker etc. from the mid 2000s.

The same is being done by Jeep now. Compass (and Meridian to some extent) is the only car they are trying to sell (if we remove the other overpriced CKDs from the equation). The only silver lining is that the car received a major interior overhaul within four years of launch.

[ron_9191]

Looks like they have some unsold inventory that they want to dump in the Indian market like they did during their time. If there is one company that imploded all by themselves in India, its got to be Fiat. I know I sound negative. But clearly that is the sentiment I have towards that one particular brand and the only thing that changes it is a Fiat Palio S10.

[Benoit]

How would and how should the people treat Fiat if they re-enter India? If Fiat had stayed in India, i would've probably been driving my Fiat Linea now. When the brand exited, there weren't any service center in Chennai. They partnered with a few multi-brand service centers and ran things for some time.

The further dip in resale value, fearing which, people panic sold their existing cars, and the resale value further dipped.

Simply put, I wouldn't trust Fiat or any brand within Stellantis. Nor would I trust any American brands. Even if they had great cars.

IMO, it's best if they focus on expanding the Citroen portfolio, and give an impression that Citroen is here to stay.

Stellantis should learn from Kia!