Fiat's Plans for the Indian Auto Market Revealed

Previously we shared with you information on Fiats plans to Abarth hot hatch and the Chrysler owned Jeep brand to India. We also asked you to stay tuned to us for more updates and here they are. Fiat has aims to grab hold of 5 per cent of the Indian auto market share in the coming years in contrast to the 0.7 per cent market share they had back in 2011. However, the question remains, how is Fiat planning on achieving this feat? Well, they plan on introducing their strongest products into the Indian market; lets take a closer look at what these products are.

Just a few hours ago, we broke the story on Fiat India's plans to introduce the Abarth hot hatch that will be based off the Grande Punto 1.4-litre petrol and will come with a turbo charged unit for increased performance. Apart from that, Fiat is also planning an update on the already existing Grande Punto and Linea models in 2013 to help them compete better with their rivals. After the update, Fiat plans on introducing the all new Grande Punto and Linea models by 2014. Now, the interesting bit is that this is double the good news for Linea fans in India. With the introduction of an all-new Fiat Linea by 2014, the older version will get quite a bit more affordable.

Additionally, the new Grande Punto will feature the 1.2-litre petrol and 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engines. The new Linea, on the other hand, is said to come with the 1.4-litre turbo-charged petrol and the 1.6-litre Multijet diesel engine options.

In our story on the Abarth hot hatch, we also spoke of Fiat bringing in its Chrysler owned Jeep brand to India, taking into consideration India's growing demand for SUV's. Now as we stated there, Fiat plans to make the debut with the Jeep Wrangler and Grand Cherokee models as they are easily the most popular internationally. Fiat has also revealed that both the SUV's will get updates in 2016; the Wrangler is scheduled for an update at the start of the year 2016 and will be followed by the Cherokee update by mid-2016.

Apart from the updates and the introduction of a hatchback and an SUV, Fiat also has plans to introduce a B-segment compact SUV that will house a 1.4-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel engine. The compact UV will make its debut in 2015. Apart from the B-segment compact UV, Fiat also plans on introducing an SUV in the C-segment.

According to Fiat, once the Jeep brand has been launched in India, it will have a presence in 25 cities with a 32 member strong dealer network. Fiat India meanwhile will be present in 126 cities and will have a dealer network comprising of 112 units. Stay tuned with CarDekho as we bring you further updates to see what other plans Fiat has for India and how it plans to come up and take hold of its expected market share. Cheers!