Fiat India is getting ready to start production from its Kurla facility in Mumbai and may launch the Grande Punto soon in the country. Giovanni De Filippis, who took over as managing director of Fiat India recently, told Business Standard today, “The factory was badly affected by the recent floods in Mumbai and we have an estimated loss of Rs 75 crore. Repair activity is going on in full swing and we should be ready to start producing the current range of A178 platform-based cars soon,” said De Filippis. “We are also looking at introducing the revamped Palio range and its variants, which were a runaway success in markets like Brazil when launched in 2004. "While the Palio continues to be the best suited car for Indian roads, we are looking at bringing in more exciting products.”

On whether the newly launched Fiat Grande Punto, with a 1.3 multijet diesel engine, would make sense for the Indian market, De Filippis said it was too early to predict the next move. “We are looking at the premium end of the B-segment at a later stage,” he said. The Grande Punto, which was successfully launched recently in Europe, is a premium B-segment category car. To get a brand new model like the Grande Punto into production, Fiat will need to invest between 100 million and 400 million euros, depending on the amount of local content. “One of the mistakes we made in India was to take products to the market before they were fully localised and we do not want to do that again,” he added. At the same time, he said it was important for Fiat to get the other aspects of its business, more importantly the sales and service network, sorted out. “We understand that Fiat products enjoy tremendous equity with Indian customers and we also know that it is the sales and service areas that need urgent work." To address this issue, Fiat India plans to bring in new dealers in areas where the carmaker does not have any presence.

Close interaction with the Tatas on all aspects of business

De Filippis said Fiat and Tata were looking at close interactions in almost all areas of the automobile business. “We started work the moment an MoU was signed and there is scope for doing a lot.
 

"We will be looking at common sourcing of components, joint production opportunities and sharing of service facilities. Yet, it is too early to comment on these aspects,” he said. “We are working together with many automotive partners around the world. Fiat has a joint agreement with Ford to build a next-generation small car called “Ka”, using a Fiat platform from a company plant in eastern Europe. Similarly, our relationship with Suzuki remains excellent too."

When asked whether Fiat would be receiving help from Tata to get the Rajnandgaon greenfield facility up and running, he said it was still being discussed. “It is common knowledge that we need to get going with Rajnandgaon, and it is possible that Tata Motors will be a partner in that.” Asked whether the company would have the option of getting 1300cc multijet diesel engines, co-developed by Fiat, from the upcoming plant of Suzuki in India, he said it was a possibility. “We will be making the engines in India since that makes our cars cost-effective, but it is too early to say whether they will be sourced from Suzuki,” De Filippis concluded. Suzuki will build the engines from a dedicated plant which is reported to have an installed capacity to build 1.5 lakh engines per annum.

This interview with Fiat India Managing Director Giovanni De Filippis featured in the Indian Business Standard, on 10.11.2005