Fiat to launch a new small car in India by 2012

Italy based leading car-maker Fiat Motors is planning to launch a small car in India by the end of year 2012. The new small car has specially been developed for the emerging markets like India that is home to a large number of middle class buyers. The new India bound car will be placed in the small hatchback segment where it will compete with popular small cars in the country like Maruti Alto and Hyundai Santro Xing.

Mr Rajeev Kapor, MD, Fiat India, said in a interview, given to a leading news daily, that it will be an all-new car, nothing to do with any of company's other models and will be priced aggressively. The new car will compete with the Alto and will have a one-litre engine. He added that the Uno brand has become rather generic in nature and the company is still figuring out a new brand name for the car.

The new car will be manufactured in India, taking into consideration, the terrain and temperatures of the country. The company's R&D department is working hard to develop a small car that fulfills the requirements of the Indian buyers. The launch of this prospective small car can be seen as a part of company's plans to increase its customers base in India in the long run. With the launch of this car, the Italian auto giant looks to grab a significant market share in the small car segment which is currently dominated by country's top two car makers Maruti and Hyundai. Fiat India currently has a market share of 1.5 percent in the Indian market. The company aims to sell 40,000 units of its cars in year 2010.

In last few months, many major auto makers have launched their compact cars in India, that include Chevrolet Beat, Ford Figo and Volkswagen Polo.