[ironshark]

Following is the article in today's TOI. Feels good to see Fiat making progress on this front.

Fiat rolls out its 2,00,000th engine

Setting a perfect example of a great partnership between two auto majors, Fiat India's Ranjangaon plant in Pune has successfully manufactured 2,00,000 engines.
Fiat India Automobiles Ltd rolled out the 2,00,000th engine from its Ranjangaon plant in Pune. This state-of-the-art facility started manufacturing power trains from July 2008, and it is regarded as one of largest power train manufacturing plants of Fiat in the world.
The plant has been built to manufacture engines for Tata as well as Fiat cars and it is also involved in exporting engines to other Fiat facilities across Europe. "The state-of-the-art Tata-Fiat manufacturing facility epitomizes our commitment towards bringing cutting edge technology to India. The remarkable figure of 2,00,000 engines in a short span of time is a testament to the commitment of both the partners and to the tireless efforts of the team which has worked to make this a world-class facility," said a proud Mr. Gurpratap Boparai, Vice President, Power Train Technologies, Fiat India Automobiles Ltd.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. R. Ramakrishnan, Vice President, Commercial (passenger Car Business), Tata Motors said, "Our partnership with Fiat is a win-win for both parties. Fiat's engines are powering the new generation Tata cars, additionally; the engines are also being exported to other countries which indicate that India could really be developed as a hub for the manufacture of technologically advanced engines."

[cLJ]

No doubt, Fiat diesel engines are the best. They should thank Maruti for achieving the milestone so fast. Now, TATA also making money by sealling their cars with this engine.

[sushantr5]

Originally Posted by cLJ

No doubt, Fiat diesel engines are the best. They should thank Maruti for achieving the milestone so fast. Now, TATA also making money by sealling their cars with this engine.

DDiS is manufactured by Maruti themselves (through Fiat License). Ranjangaon plant deals only with Tata, Fiat cars and export.

[harishnair]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

DDiS is manufactured by Maruti themselves (through Fiat License). Ranjangaon plant deals only with Tata, Fiat cars and export.

MSIL manufactures its engines under Suzuki-Japan's license and Fiat gains nothing from the use of 1.3 MJD engine in Maruti-Suzuki cars.

[ironshark]

Its hightime Fiat starts marketing their products well and also back it up with good after sales service.Me being a die hard fan of Fiat and also a owner of Punto E +, there is not doubt an substantial improvement in the after sales service.They've got such awesome products to offer in Linea Tjet and Punto MJD but somehow they are'nt able to market them which is evident from their sales figures.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by harishnair

MSIL manufactures its engines under Suzuki-Japan's license and Fiat gains nothing from the use of 1.3 MJD engine in Maruti-Suzuki cars.

i suspect that . every thing is manufactured under a technology transfer agreement with FIAT and there is Fee Involved in that . FIAT gets a amount for every engine manufactured by maruti . moreover there is limit on no of engines maruti can manufacture in their plant.

[PAVAN KADAM]

Originally Posted by sushantr5

DDiS is manufactured by Maruti themselves (through Fiat License). Ranjangaon plant deals only with Tata, Fiat cars and export.

That is not true.

All engine blocks are produced and sourced directly from Fiat. Just like the way Maruti's did when they plonked in the Ascent engine into the Zen-D.

Only the last stages of assembling the engine covers and fastners happen at MUL .

On the contrary, Maruti's must thank Fiat for giving them such great engines. If not for this engine where would the Ritz and Dzire be.

Just imagine what will happen if Fiat says STOP to maruti's from using their engine.

[abhibh]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

Just imagine what will happen if Fiat says STOP to maruti's from using their engine.

They will shift to either VW engines or use 1.4 DV4 Peugeot/Ford engines they have license to. Suzuki used that engine in their Liana which put out around 90BHP and 200NM of torque.

Also Suzuki has a lot of options as they take/took diesel engines from:
- Fiat / GM
- Ford / Peugoet
- Renault

Its not just the engine that sells the cars.

Also FIAT benefits a lot from Maruti as they get paid royalty for every engine. So if they somehow manage to break the tie-up its FIAT that's gonna loose not Suzuki.

[ghodlur]

Such a massive sale of engines is not turning the sales numbers of Fiats own stable. Maruti used it better by feeling the Indian consumer pulse hence made mega profits.

I feel Fiat should use their technology for bettering their products by which the sales figures will speak for themselves.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

On the contrary, Maruti's must thank Fiat for giving them such great engines. If not for this engine where would the Ritz and Dzire be.

Yes, I strongly agree to the above. Previous attempts of Maruti Diesel engined cars with Esteem Di & ZenD were not selling well, despite the mileage on ZenD were something like 20+.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Such a massive sale of engines is not turning the sales numbers of Fiats own stable.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

I feel Fiat should use their technology for bettering their products by which the sales figures will speak for themselves.

See, a good product speaks for itself, but the service also does matter because, the downtime of the product also matters. I simply love Punto & Linea very much (for that matter the old Fiat from PAL), however, the stories of T.A.S.S over here keeps me away from buying such lovely cars.

Congratulation FIAT India for the achievement.

[ironshark]

@ aargee - extremely well said. As already mentioned earlier, Fiat has such great products to offer (read Punto, Linea) but somehow does not reflect in their sales figures. A.S.S might be the differentiating factor here. IMHO, if Fiat works on this, there's no reason why it cannot ruffle feathers of other competitors comfortably sitting up there. Having said this, would also like to add that Fiat has improved by leaps n bounds when it comes to service. Can definitely endorse this fact being a Punto MJD E+ owner and moreover, AN EXTREMELY SATISFIED CUSTOMER, both, with the product as well as with the service.

[Newpunter]

More than the After Sales , it is Fiat's broken image that has been implanted in the customers' minds that is hurting them. Whenever I tell someone that I bought a Fiat, the first question is "Why Fiat? You know Fiat is a company close to winding down? " or "Fiat Service is very bad" etc. If Fiat wants to succeed, the first thing it needs to do is to change that perception in people's minds. Till then, it will just be a manufacturer catering to a certain niche.

Congrats to Fiat on the milestone by the way .

[invidious]

GM semi-successfully turned around that image in India by emphasizing their 3 years - no hassle ownership. Instead of marketing their product only, Fiat India should market their servicing credentials. For the record, I won a Fiat Linea and am generally satisfied with their service.

[harishnair]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

i suspect that . every thing is manufactured under a technology transfer agreement with FIAT and there is Fee Involved in that . FIAT gets a amount for every engine manufactured by maruti . moreover there is limit on no of engines maruti can manufacture in their plant.

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

That is not true.

All engine blocks are produced and sourced directly from Fiat. Just like the way Maruti's did when they plonked in the Ascent engine into the Zen-D.

Only the last stages of assembling the engine covers and fastners happen at MUL .

On the contrary, Maruti's must thank Fiat for giving them such great engines. If not for this engine where would the Ritz and Dzire be.

Just imagine what will happen if Fiat says STOP to maruti's from using their engine.

Originally Posted by abhibh

Also FIAT benefits a lot from Maruti as they get paid royalty for every engine. So if they somehow manage to break the tie-up its FIAT that's gonna loose not Suzuki.

The MJD was developed by the Poland based Fiat-GM Powertrain, a joint venture between GM and Fiat. This occurred during the time period when GM used to own a stake in Fiat. Suzuki (GM had a 20% stake in it) also invested some money in the engine development .In return for this investment Suzuki was granted full license to build and market the 1.3 litre version of the MJD in its small cars.

Later on GM bought itself out of Fiat and also sold majority of their stakes in Suzuki. But GM still holds a 50% stake in the Powertrain company. Suzuki now an outsider, failed to reach an agreement with the Fiat or GM for further tech transfer for the manufacture of bigger MJD engines and this is the reason why Suzuki/Maruti don't have any MJD engine larger than 1.3L.

MSIL in 2007, opened up its own diesel engine plant in Manesar with a capacity to produce upto 300,000 units/year, to manufacture the 1.3L MJD . Maruti doesn't need any permission from TATA or Fiat India for the manufacture of the MJD because they are building it under license from Suzuki Japan.

During the initial stages of their partnership, TATA-FIAT had approached MSIL to set-up a joint diesel plant in India,but the idea was rejected by MSIL. Ratan Tata himself had mentioned about his once.

Check this link for the full article -- Suzuki rejected engine facility offer, says Tata

Below are excerpts from the same article.

"We (the Tata, Fiat joint venture company, Fiat India Automobiles) looked to have one plant for the 1.3 litre diesel engine of Fiat. We had approached Suzuki for the alliance but they disagreed," said Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata Group, while answering one of the queries posted by shareholders at the company's annual general meeting recently.

SMC, instead, through its Indian subsidiary — Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) — had opted to set up its own facility in Manesar near Haryana. The facility, which has a capacity to produce 3,00,000 units a year, now produces the engine for MSIL's Swift and Swift DZire models.

“All the three companies would have made considerable savings if a joint facility for the engine would have been brought in place," said an auto expert.

The joint venture company of the Tata and Fiat -- Fiat India Automobiles (FIAPL) -- has set up a 300,000-engines per year plant at Ranjangaon near Pune in Maharashtra where the 1.3 multijet will also be produced apart from some other petrol engines.

Courtesy- Business Standard

[asdon]

Originally Posted by harishnair

Maruti doesn't need any permission from TATA or Fiat India for the manufacture of the MJD because they are building it under license from Suzuki Japan.

+1 to that and I belive this license was granted for FGT engines only. So Dzire does not use the VGT engine.