According to a media report, Fiat Chrysler will pull the plug on the Fiat brand in India and will focus entirely on the Jeep brand. Fiat currently sells the Punto, Linea, Avventura, Urban Cross and the performance versions of the Punto and Avventura. There's also the 595 Abarth on sale here, but over the past few years, there have hardly been any sales of these cars. According to the report, combined sales were just 101 units in 12 months which is from December 2017 to November 2018. Another blow to Fiat will be the upcoming BS6 norms which will see stricter emission regulations as also safety norms. Both the Punto and the Linea will not comply with these regulations and a substantial investment will need to be made to make it BS6 ready. In fact, even ABS is still not a standard fitment on any of the cars from Fiat. That's yet another blow to the company because come April 2019, ABS will be made mandatory on all cars.
Fiat's last launch in India was the Urban Cross
Besides cars, Fiat was also the supplier of the 1.3-litre multijet engine to companies like Tata and even Maruti Suzuki. With the new emission norms kicking in in April 2020, both these companies are working on powertrains in-house instead of sourcing it from somewhere else and this will be the biggest blow to the company.
However, a source close to the company said that the production of Fiat vehicles is still underway at the company's Ranjangaon facility but yes the future is not that bright. We have approached the company to give us a perspective on Fiat's future in India, but we haven't received a reply yet.
It's definitely sad to see a brand go, especially one that has been a household name and still has a sense of nostalgia attached to it. But we wait for FCA India's reply to know more.
Source: Autocar India
