Fiat launches Avventura, banks on three-pronged strategy to win back Indian buyers

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles India is in a curious situation. Brand Fiat is well known in India since it has been around for decades. But the company has no significant presence in the Indian automotive market, with barely 0.5 percent market share. It broke off the much-talked-about marketing and distribution tieup with the Tatas earlier to go solo though the two companies continue to jointly manufacture cars at Ranjangaon.

Now, after its return to the country in 2012, Fiat has announced a three-pillar strategy to ramp up Indian operations: focus on distribution, branding and products. Globally, Fiat together with Chrysler is the seveth largest automotive brand but in India, it is merely on the fringes. Will it succeed in a fiercely competitive market this time?

In the past, consumers have struggled with after-sales service and spare parts’ availability for Fiat cars. This, obviously, has put them off. President and MD Nagesh Basavanhalli sais today that all these issues are now being corrected on priority.

More from Corporate

Maha: Court orders Rs 30L compensation for parents after youth dies in road accident Ashleigh Barty comes from set down to beat Coco Gauff in Australian Open lead-up

He did not speak of sales numbers but said year-on-year sales growth this year has been 50 percent. Of the four products he had promised earlier, three are already in the market. The fourth, Abarth 500, will also be launched before December as a CBU. Fiat now sells the new Linea, Punto Eva and Avventura.

Fiat today launched the Avventura compact utility vehicle at a starting price of Rs 5.99 lakh for 1.4 litre petrol version and at Rs 6.89 lakh for the 1.3 litre diesel variant (prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Basavanhalli said a lot of effort has gone into putting the three-pillar strategy into action. On the network front, Fiat has already built 125 exclusive dealerships across 93 cities in India after its breakup with the Tatas.

It has identified 200 commonly needed spare parts which are now stocked at each of its dealerships. For other, long-lead spare parts, the company has set up a 6,000 square feet warehouse in Chakan (Pune) from where these are shipped to dealerships on demand.

Basavanhalli said that for the spares of Linea and Punto, the company is one of the most cost competitive. This will reduce customers’ cost of onwership. Fiat is trying to also replicate its global practices of sales and service in India to attract customers.

Some other issues Fiat customers pointed out have also been dealt with: Fiat has listened to customer complaints and raised the ground clearance of its vehicles, introduced features such as rain sensing wipers and innvoative headlamps in its cars. In short, it has tried to address most concerns customers had with the brand earlier.

But what about introducing products from the Chrysler stable? Basavanhalli said the iconic Jeep brand will be introduced in India next year. Already, the launch of Jeep products has been delayed twice because of unfavourable market conditions in India. He did not disclose when in 2015 will the first Jeep product be launched and how many products under this brand will initially be available.

Yet another reason Fiat is well-known in India is the popular 1.3 litre diesel engine it supplies to Maruti, Tata Motors and others. Though the engine successfully powers many cars running on Indian roads, it now needs to be upgraded because of fierce competition and the need for bigger diesel engines in Indian cars. Basavanhalli declined to comment on whether Fiat is working on a new or bigger diesel engine for the Indian market.