Palio to help revive Fiat's fortune in India

MUMBAI: The new Palio NV is expected to help revive the fortunes of Italian automaker Fiat in India. The company, which received a new lease of life when the parent in Italy reinforced its confidence in its Indian subsidiary, is looking at a new beginning.
The company has decided to address the twin issues of fuel efficiency and cost of spares as part of restructuring strategy.The new NV returned an average fuel efficiency of over 14 kilometres a litre on a test run on Tuesday. The car clocked a high of over 17 km per litre, and a low of over 12 km a litre on the test drive.
The company also announced a substantial reduction in its spares. The company is also introducing Fiat work systems at its Kurla plant to reduce and optimise costs. Besides an initiative at dealership, development too is on. The company, which presently manufactures around 10,000 vehicles per annum proposes to scale its production to double that figure, as the company''s operations are expected to acheive breakeven levels at the 20,000 vehicles per annum mark.
Fiat Finance a Fiat group subsidiary has recently cleared a plan to induct fresh equity in the Indian arm of the company. "I do not have the actual figures but it would mean a complete recapitalisation of the company," Alberto Montanari mamaging director of Fiat in India told Times News Netowrk.
Fiat officials who together with the rest of the auto industry are aware of the fact that the company had lost a major opportunity in India when it failed to push the Palio a potential winner, are gearing for the second coming of the company. The new Palio NV a petrol vehicle will have four variants and each of these will be priced Rs 3000 more than the existing product in that category.
The company is also looking at its product portfolio in India, which includes the relaunched Sienna and the Weekender besides the Palio.
``We intend to concentrate in the B, and C segments and our offerings in each of these categories are product for product better than the competition,'' Montanari said.
The company may look at a new Sedan launch some time next year, but that will happen once the operations stabilise. "Fiat has several new product offerings in its drawers, but we have to get the right product at the right price, for example an European vehicle may not work in Indian conditions on account of fuel efficiency and price point considerations, hence we are looking outside Europe to other countries like Brazil and China to evolve a common solution, but even then the product once identified will have to be suited to meet the Indian conditions, mind you," Montanari said.