The Fiat 500 and Bravo models will go on sale in India within the next three months, followed by the Linea (seen above in New Delhi yesterday) in September and the Grande Punto by the end of the year, said Alfredo Altavilla in New Delhi.

Fiat India Automobile Pvt Ltd, the local unit of the Italian carmaker, plans to roll out four new cars during the year as it seeks to capture a bigger pie of one of the world's fastest growing auto markets, reports The Economic Times.

"The company will bring in '500' and 'Bravo' as completely built units from Italy and delivery would start three months from now," Fiat India Vice-Chairman Alfredo Altavilla told reporters at the Auto Expo here. The company is also planning to roll out 'Linea' in September and 'Grande Punto' by the end of December this year from the Ranjangaon facility in Maharashtra, he said.

With these launches, the year will see Fiat commence the build-up of re-establishment of its brand in India, he said. The company also plans to launch CNG cars by 2009, he said, adding the company is expecting to touch sales target of 70,000 units a year by the end of 2010.

Without disclosing the prices of new models, Altavilla said 'Linea' would come in both diesel and petrol versions, while 'Grande Punto' would be available in three variants. The company, which on Wednesday introduced a new logo, expects Palio sales to double to around 7,000 units a year by the end of March 2009. It will launch a new 'Palio' diesel with engine capacity of 1.3 litre by March this year.

Fiat has a distribution tie-up with Tata Motors and provides after-sales services for its cars through the Indian company's 65 dealers in the country. Fiat Group Automobiles SPA and Tata Motors had in October last year formed a 50:50 industrial joint venture. The JV is developing a manufacturing facility at Ranjangaon at an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

Report & Photo courtesy of The Economic Times