Fiat India Increases localisation from 55% to 65% on making the Linea

madhokritesh · 22nd April 2009, 21:59

Fiat takes steps to enhance its local value proposition

~ Increases localisation from 55% to 65% making the Linea more viable in the long term for its customers~

Mumbai, 21st April 2009: Fiat is on the progress path in India and one more step taken by the company is its effort to increase localisation. At the start of production the company had achieved 55% localisation & within a short span of four months it has been able to increase it by 10%. Linea, Fiat’s flagship car, is now manufactured with a total localisation of 65%.

Mr. Rajeev Kapoor , President & CEO said, “All our plans are falling in place and we are confident of achieving 86% localisation on the Linea by the end of this calendar year. By the first quarter of 2010 the Linea will be 91% localized. This achievement has been made possible due to the highly motivated team within the organisation.”

The aggressive localization plans for the Linea & the future models will ensure massive savings on import duties which will be passed on to the customer.

Also on account of the huge local content the availability of spares at competitive prices much below the competition has brought down the cost of ownership of Fiat cars. A recent study by an automobile magazine, Autocar India, on availability of fast moving spares for the after market indicates a leadership position for Fiat where spares of the Palio Stile are priced much below to the competition.

About Fiat India Automobiles Ltd:

Fiat India Automobiles Limited (FIAL) is a 50-50 Industrial Joint Venture between Fiat Group Automobiles S. p. A., (Fiat) and Tata Motors Limited (Tata) originally incorporated on January 02, 1997. The company employs about 1900 blue & white collar employees and is located at Ranjangaon in the Pune District of Maharashtra. The definitive agreement of the Joint Venture was signed in October 11, 2007. The board of directors for this company comprises of five nominees each from Fiat and Tata.

The state-of-the-art facility at Ranjangaon, which is owned by FIAL is capable of producing 200,000 cars and 300,000 engines, besides 3,00,000 parts & accessories. The facility currently manufactures the Palio Stile 1.1, 1.6 models and Linea. The Grande Punto is expected to roll out soon from this facility within this year. The facility also manufactures Fiat’s successful 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engines and 1.2 & 1.4 litre Fire gasoline engine. Apart from Fiat cars, the facility will also produce Tata passenger and next generation cars with investment exceeding € 650 Million. The plant is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to more than 4,000 people.

Fiat, which holds a 50% stake in the Company, also owns and controls five internationally renowned brands:- Fiat Automobiles, Alfa Romeo Automobiles, Lancia Automobiles, Abarth and Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles, the makers of renowned cars such as the Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia besides the Fiat branded cars.

theragingbull · 22nd April 2009, 22:11

An increase in localization should reduce the prices of the Linea i suppose.
When will we get that Sky blue color in Linea? Looks lovely!

Gagan.js · 22nd April 2009, 23:46

This is great, nice to see the company working hard to restore faith in Indians.

Maybe we can expect people to buy something other than Honda, Hyundai and Maruti..oh wait whats the word..oh yes Fiat! How we've forgotten that word in the last few years.

hillram · 23rd April 2009, 00:04

This is great news.I wonder Grande Punto will be launched at a cheaper price.

pranava999 · 23rd April 2009, 00:32

Nice! Wish they launch a powerful diesel variant of the grande along with the standard 1.2 petrol. A Diesel Grande Abarth maybe? Just to stir things up...I know they are originally petrols, but whats the harm in hoping and wishing like most of us desis do for power+mileage? check the 2009 grande punto abarth

Fiat updates the Grande Punto Abarth SS for 2009 - [Fiat Grande Punto Abarth SS] - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots

rupinder · 23rd April 2009, 01:36

well it definetly is good news especially it shows that the company is not sitting on its back side and trying to bring value to their product which is what we want to see

tanwaramit · 23rd April 2009, 10:00

welcome news. Skoda are you listening ?

sharma_sanjeevi · 23rd April 2009, 10:24

Great News, FIAT India seems to be on the right track, if everything goes the right way they already have a Winner on their hands in form of Grande Punto.

Waiting for the Launch of Grande Punto, i have parked my decision to purchase a Hatch till Punto arrives, hope it will be also a VFM like the Linea.

Good Luck FIAT India..!!

Firebird · 23rd April 2009, 10:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

welcome news. Skoda are you listening ?

Perhaps Czech can't understand italian

Would love to see how this will get translated into customer delight (I am not talking about satisfaction....delight is the only thing FIAT can do to reach a good reputation)

Edit - FIAT needs to keep in mind, localization at same or higher quality of spares, fit and finish. Am I expecting too much from them?

amtak · 23rd April 2009, 11:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanwaramit

welcome news. Skoda are you listening ?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Firebird

Perhaps Czech can't understand italian

3 months ago everyone used to bash FIAT. See, how the times change

. Everyone's now bashing Skoda. "F" is not the cursed word now, "S" is

Kudos to Fiat!

amit · 23rd April 2009, 11:55

So they increased localisation and hiked prices of the car too?

Not that I am holding it against Fiat. Despite the very minor price hike, the Linea is still VFM.

Mr_Bean · 23rd April 2009, 12:05

With Tata being right along with Fiat, I am quite worried about the quality of plastics & other parts used in the car. This will have its say in the long run.

I happened to test drive the demo car of the indica vista diesel & the quality of plastics were pretty bad. gearbox is sourced from fiat, can someone comment. Is the car little sluggish to start with?

JayD · 23rd April 2009, 12:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by hillram

This is great news.I wonder Grande Punto will be launched at a cheaper price.

I hope the quality levels don't come down after localization too. But why the price increase after this move?? Shouldn't the opposite happen??

amit · 23rd April 2009, 12:25

I wonder what made Fiat decide not to launch that sky blue colour in the Linea. It looks better then the flamengo red.

S_budhiraj · 23rd April 2009, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayD

I hope the quality levels don't come down after localization too. But why the price increase after this move?? Shouldn't the opposite happen??

Jay D, even I am not able to digest the same thing. 10% increase in localisation resulting in 10-15 K price increase.

Strange to accept!

22nd April 2009, 21:59	#1
madhokritesh BHPian Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Thane Posts: 334 Thanked: 4 Times	Fiat India Increases localisation from 55% to 65% on making the Linea Fiat takes steps to enhance its local value proposition ~ Increases localisation from 55% to 65% making the Linea more viable in the long term for its customers~ Mumbai, 21st April 2009: Fiat is on the progress path in India and one more step taken by the company is its effort to increase localisation. At the start of production the company had achieved 55% localisation & within a short span of four months it has been able to increase it by 10%. Linea, Fiat’s flagship car, is now manufactured with a total localisation of 65%. Mr. Rajeev Kapoor , President & CEO said, “All our plans are falling in place and we are confident of achieving 86% localisation on the Linea by the end of this calendar year. By the first quarter of 2010 the Linea will be 91% localized. This achievement has been made possible due to the highly motivated team within the organisation.” The aggressive localization plans for the Linea & the future models will ensure massive savings on import duties which will be passed on to the customer. Also on account of the huge local content the availability of spares at competitive prices much below the competition has brought down the cost of ownership of Fiat cars. A recent study by an automobile magazine, Autocar India, on availability of fast moving spares for the after market indicates a leadership position for Fiat where spares of the Palio Stile are priced much below to the competition. About Fiat India Automobiles Ltd: Fiat India Automobiles Limited (FIAL) is a 50-50 Industrial Joint Venture between Fiat Group Automobiles S. p. A., (Fiat) and Tata Motors Limited (Tata) originally incorporated on January 02, 1997. The company employs about 1900 blue & white collar employees and is located at Ranjangaon in the Pune District of Maharashtra. The definitive agreement of the Joint Venture was signed in October 11, 2007. The board of directors for this company comprises of five nominees each from Fiat and Tata. The state-of-the-art facility at Ranjangaon, which is owned by FIAL is capable of producing 200,000 cars and 300,000 engines, besides 3,00,000 parts & accessories. The facility currently manufactures the Palio Stile 1.1, 1.6 models and Linea. The Grande Punto is expected to roll out soon from this facility within this year. The facility also manufactures Fiat’s successful 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engines and 1.2 & 1.4 litre Fire gasoline engine. Apart from Fiat cars, the facility will also produce Tata passenger and next generation cars with investment exceeding € 650 Million. The plant is expected to provide direct and indirect employment to more than 4,000 people. Fiat, which holds a 50% stake in the Company, also owns and controls five internationally renowned brands:- Fiat Automobiles, Alfa Romeo Automobiles, Lancia Automobiles, Abarth and Fiat Light Commercial Vehicles, the makers of renowned cars such as the Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia besides the Fiat branded cars. Attached Thumbnails
	() Thanks

22nd April 2009, 22:11	#2
theragingbull Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 2,601 Thanked: 646 Times View My Garage	An increase in localization should reduce the prices of the Linea i suppose. When will we get that Sky blue color in Linea? Looks lovely!
	() Thanks

22nd April 2009, 23:46	#3
Gagan.js BHPian Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Mumbai Posts: 227 Thanked: Once	This is great, nice to see the company working hard to restore faith in Indians. Maybe we can expect people to buy something other than Honda, Hyundai and Maruti..oh wait whats the word..oh yes Fiat! How we've forgotten that word in the last few years.
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 00:04	#4
hillram Senior - BHPian Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Hyderabad Posts: 2,942 Thanked: 1,326 Times View My Garage	This is great news.I wonder Grande Punto will be launched at a cheaper price.
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 00:32	#5
pranava999 BHPian Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: BANGALORE Posts: 845 Thanked: 23 Times View My Garage	Nice! Wish they launch a powerful diesel variant of the grande along with the standard 1.2 petrol. A Diesel Grande Abarth maybe? Just to stir things up...I know they are originally petrols, but whats the harm in hoping and wishing like most of us desis do for power+mileage? check the 2009 grande punto abarth Fiat updates the Grande Punto Abarth SS for 2009 - [Fiat Grande Punto Abarth SS] - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 01:36	#6
rupinder BHPian Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: ludhiana Posts: 197 Thanked: 5 Times	well it definetly is good news especially it shows that the company is not sitting on its back side and trying to bring value to their product which is what we want to see
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 10:00	#7
tanwaramit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Dilwalon ki Dilli Posts: 1,930 Thanked: 497 Times	welcome news. Skoda are you listening ?
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 10:24	#8
sharma_sanjeevi BHPian Join Date: May 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 598 Thanked: 113 Times	Great News, FIAT India seems to be on the right track, if everything goes the right way they already have a Winner on their hands in form of Grande Punto. Waiting for the Launch of Grande Punto, i have parked my decision to purchase a Hatch till Punto arrives, hope it will be also a VFM like the Linea. Good Luck FIAT India..!!
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 11:55	#11
amit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,717 Thanked: 449 Times	So they increased localisation and hiked prices of the car too? Not that I am holding it against Fiat. Despite the very minor price hike, the Linea is still VFM.
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 12:05	#12
Mr_Bean BHPian Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 891 Thanked: 241 Times View My Garage	With Tata being right along with Fiat, I am quite worried about the quality of plastics & other parts used in the car. This will have its say in the long run. I happened to test drive the demo car of the indica vista diesel & the quality of plastics were pretty bad. gearbox is sourced from fiat, can someone comment. Is the car little sluggish to start with?
	() Thanks

23rd April 2009, 12:25	#14
amit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,717 Thanked: 449 Times	I wonder what made Fiat decide not to launch that sky blue colour in the Linea. It looks better then the flamengo red.
	() Thanks