Fiat will launch a new range of budget cars to target Dacia in Europe from late 2015 as part of a renewed assault on the European market.
07 May 2014 | 2810 Views | By Mark Tisshaw
Fiat will launch a new range of budget cars to target Dacia in Europe from late 2015 as part of a renewed assault on the European market.
The Fiat brand is also set to launch a new rear-wheel drive sports car twinned with the Mazda MX-5, a model originally ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Fiat will launch a new range of budget cars to target Dacia in Europe from late 2015 as part of a renewed assault on the European market.
The Fiat brand is also set to launch a new rear-wheel drive sports car twinned with the Mazda MX-5, a model originally destined to be an Alfa Romeo before a rethink of Alfa’s future strategy.
The new range of budget cars is set to start with a new saloon in late 2015 and will be followed by hatchback and estate versions in 2016. A compact budget SUV will follow in 2017.
Judging by Fiat's positioning of the new budget models in its line-up, they are likely to sit between Dacia and Citroen's Cactus range in the marketplace. The four new cars are likely to be spun off the same platform - as Dacia does with its entire range - allowing greater economies of scale and lower price points, but the execution could be more Cactus-like with a pared-back, functional approach rather than an outright budget one.
The new plan revealed yesterday by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) includes confirmation that the Fiat brand – in Europe particularly – is split in two, with a ‘rational’ and 'functional' range of models in the Panda mould on one side and a range of models in the 500 family on the ‘emotional’ and 'aspirational' side.
Fiat boss Olivier Francois believes that Fiat is able to sell "flip-flop" models at the lower end of the mainstream market, and "high-heel" models like the 500 range at the premium end of mainstream. He likens Fiat to a "zipper", able to sell models to both sides. New models on the ‘rational’ side include the new four-model-strong budget car range, and a replacement for the Punto in 2016.
Whether or not these new models take the Panda name as more premium Fiats have taken the 500 name is unclear, with Fiat indicating the models will be positioned lower than the Panda. On the ‘emotional’ side, a new compact SUV called Fiat 500X will launch later this year. It is a sister car to the Jeep Renegade.
BOX
In India, Fiat has delayed plans to bring in Jeep, slated for late last year. While insisting that Jeep is still committed to the Indian market, executives from Fiat India have indicated that the brand could be launched "as soon as market sentiments improve". Jeep's careful approach to the Indian market is understandable. It has an exciting range of locally assembled, compact and semi compact SUVs in the pipeline, but it doesn't want to compromise them with a lacklustre launch here. Problem is, it needs to price its first couple of imports like the Grand Cherokee SUV and the Wrangler off-roader aggressively in relation to the competition from Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Land Rover, but the escalating dollar has made things really difficult. Also a concern is the perception of the Jeep brand in India, with the age old Mahindra association acting as a deterrent
Crowning the Fiat range is set to be the new compact sports car. This could also wear the 500 badge, or could take the Abarth name.
Reports emerged in February that FCA was set to drop this Japan-built sports car from the Alfa range and rebadge it as a Fiat or Abarth because it didn’t fit in with Alfa’s new ‘Made in Italy’ pledge.
The overall target is for Fiat to sell 1.9 million cars globally by 2018, up from the 1.5m sold last year. This includes a host of new models in key Fiat markets of Latin America and Asia-Pacific, as well as the launch of the 500X and new sports car in North America.
That growth is not expected to come from Europe, however, despite the increased model range. Fiat estimates its sales will flatline in Europe in 2018 at 700,000 units, the same as in 2013, due to increasing competition in the market place.
It spots the greatest growth potential in Asia-Pacific, where sales should grow from 70,000 units to 300,000 units due to a series of locally-targeted models, especially in China and India.