Unlike what you and I think, Fiat’s alliance with Tata was a gala time for the Italians in terms of sales. After everyone applauded the company when they announced that they will manage Fiat-branded car sales, marketing and service in India, things have become worse for the manufacturer.
The alliance with Tata still holds good in terms of manufacturing, where they are having a profitable time. In fact the stakeholders are even thinking of pumping in more money to make growth even better. Manufacturing and exporting engines to different buyers have been their forte. To get you an idea, the 1.3 L multijet diesel engine has become one of the most used diesel engines in India.
Here is the comparison in sales of Fiat cars when it was in an active collaboration with Tata Motors and marketing & sales (of Fiat cars) was looked after by the Tata, according to Economic Times…
Before Split, Fiat Car Sales:
- FY 2010: 24,800 units
- FY 2011: 21,112 units
- FY 2012: 16,073 units
After Split, Fiat Car Sales:
- FY 2013: 6,413 units
- FY 2014: 11,980 units
- Current financial year (Till now): 6,700 units.
Fiat brand has a presence in about 100 cities. Their new product launches, despite being good, have not been able to create any magic. There have been, however, visible misses from the company as well. They delayed their launches after promising them at earlier dates. New Linea was scheduled to get the new 1.6L Multijet diesel engine, which is still not launched and worse, it may come on a rival company product!
The company has also postponed launch of the much-awaited Jeep brand in India, indefinitely, for reasons not making much sense! Very recently, sudden exit of their MD Nagesh Basavanhalli also makes it abundantly clear that something somewhere is not correct…
Related: EXCLUSIVE: Fiat Working on Avventura T-Jet!
