At a press-meet in Turin, Italy, Mr. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat said that the company is considering launching low-cost budget-brand to rival Renault’s Dacia. To save it’s manufacturing costs and to maintain the ‘budget’, the cars for the brand would be built outside of Europe.
“We are wondering if there is space for a low-cost brand such as Dacia in the Fiat world“, said Mr. Marchionne. Fiat is not considering its sub-brand cars for the home European markets, but Fiat is analyzing the emerging markets which might include India as well. If approved, the company will not manufacture the low-cost cars in Fiat’s Italy plant which is quite capable of producing parts for the sub-brand, as it would not be profitable in there.
Fiat has been considering the idea of a low-cost since past five years but every time it was shelved, as the executives thought that it would not be feasible. Innocenti is one of the names considered of the sub-brand. Innocenti is a Italian brand which Fiat bought back in 1990. Since the low-budget car project is back on the table, Mr. Marchionne wants to take the Fiat brand more upscale, especially concentrating on the two iconic brands, the 500 and Panda.
If the budget brand is finalized and brought to India, it will rival Nissan’s upcoming Datsun. Fiat is bringing in a B-segment CUV and iconic brand Jeep to India this year. Read all about the offerings and details of the models coming to India. Also, in a bid to be aggressive, Fiat has refreshed its Indian website recently.
Source: autonews.com
