With International Automobile Manufacturers wanting a slice of the emerging markets in India, Fiat Motors, has come up with a new strategy to have between 80 to 100 solo car dealers spread across nearly thirty five cities across the length and breadth of India. Senior Vice President of Fiat India, Enrico Anastasio, stated that this move was milestone in Fiat’s underlying strategy to increase its share manifold in the Indian market.
Fiat proposes to augment its market share to 1.5 percent with a dedicated dealer network, stated Anastasio. He also said that new variants and newer models would hit the Indian roads soon. It would be noteworthy to mention here that Fiat sold approximately 18,000 units which could roughly translate to 0.07 percent of the Indian market which has a whopping demand of 2 million vehicles. The Fiat Punto has increased its market share as compared to last year despite it being priced at just over Rs. 7 lakhs, which is a bit high for this particular sport look segment.
The second Cafe, a Fiat specialty, has also begun with the timely launch of the Fiat Punto Sports edition in Pune. Incidentally, Maharashtra and particularly the smaller towns in this state have a history of being loyal to the Fiat range of models. The Cafe concept also helps in creating and enhancing the brand image of Fiat.
Another feather in Fiat’s cap is its interesting tie up with Chevrolet to launch vehicles like Jeep. The new variants of different models and with a tie up with Chevrolet should keep the dealers happy to cater to all segments in the automobile market in India.
Anastasio clarified that Fiat was in no hurry to increase the inventory of the its independent dealer network as it would prefer to focus on creating a stable and viable network. What is Fiat’s gain is Tata Motor’s loss as nearly 25 Tata Motors dealers have confirmed their desire to have independent showrooms set up to partner with Fiat.