Kevin Flynn appointed President & Managing Fiat India

Fiat India today announced the appointment of Kelvin Flynn as its new President and Managing Director (India Operations). The appointment comes at a time when the top spot in India was lying vacant for while due to the predecessor Nagesh Basavanhalli resignation. Taking over the mantel of Indian operations, Kelvin would have his job cut in making the Italian manufacturer a bit more appealing to Indian consumers and at the same time pump in some more life into the existing portfolio. This would mean that besides current line up of vehicles like Punto Evo and Linea, Fiat needs to introduce new products into the Indian market apart from facelifts which been a norm for a couple of years now. One consolation of this situation would be the introduction of Fiat 500 Abarth Edition in the first half of 2015 after which speculation has it that there could be Abarth version of the Punto to come. But besides this, there is requirement for more for the Italian automaker.

Speaking on this development, John Kett, Vice President and General Manager, APAC Operations, FCA said, “Kevin is a strong, strategic and dynamic leader with the ability to shape brand and business culture. With his breadth of experience and focus on customer experience, we are confident that Kevin will drive FCA India into the next phase of growth.”

Looking back at his carrier, Kelvin Flynn has spent 30 years in the industry having international and multi-brand experience. Prior to this appointment, Flynn was employed with Jaguar Land Rover as Managing Director for South Africa and Sub Sahara Africa. His role in this new position would be strengthen overall sales of Fiat brand in India along with the new brands that would be introduced into India. This would the Chrysler brand wherein the Wrangler and Cherokee are two SUV products which are being highly anticipated but their launch has been coming for a while now. We assume that one of them should be launched this year sometime. His other key responsibilities would be taking care of service, parts and customers across more than 132 dealerships spread in 98 cities across 24 states in the country.