Fiat India to introduce locally assembled Abarth model in 2015

Fiat Group Automobiles India (FGAIPL), a 100 percent subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, is planning to introduce locally assembled Abarth model(s) in India next year.

While the company plans to commercially launch the Abarth 500 model later this year as a Completely Built Unit (CBU), officials say that they are currently studying the updates the company has to make at its existing passenger car assembly lines to ensure local assembly operations of the model.

Fiat is aiming to count on customer reviews and feedback once the Abarth 500 arrives. The car will be powered by a 160bhp, 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine.

But why would a customer subscribe for the inflated costs of a model which is already slated to be locally assembled soon? Speaking to Autocar Professional, Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and managing director, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (India operations), said: “While we plan to bring the Abarth 500 through the CBU route, we know that the model will be bought by those who wish to be the first owners of this brand in India. On the other hand, we are also aware that some customers may defer their plans of buying this car knowing our plans of local assembly. Hence, we are mulling over some other variants of Abarth (with engine options beyond the known 1.4-litre turbo-petrol) for local assembly next year. The Indianised version of Abarth may not do 160bhp, but may do about 130bhp.”

Interestingly, Fiat currently has three engine options which it uses in its own cars in India – 1.2- litre, 1.4-litre petrol and 1.3-litre diesel (all four-cylinder) powertrains. It is to be noted that the company may use any of these engine options for Abarth next year to avoid cannibalisation with the CBU-specific Abarth 500 model on the performance front.

The company has lined up a 2014 Punto facelift, which will see substantial interior updates just like the recently launched Linea facelift model. “You will see interiors with premium features (like ambient lighting, fit and finish) in our upcoming Punto facelift,” disclosed Basavanhalli.

With the Avventura model (underpinned by the Punto platform) also slated for the India launch later this year, along with the Abarth 500 and Punto facelift (plus the existing product line-up), company officials claim that Fiat will be present in 45 percent of the India passenger car market across the spectrum by end-2014 as against 22 percent earlier. Basavanhalli, however, refused to state the timelines for the three upcoming models.

The company is currently showcasing its new Linea sedan and Abarth 500 at Fiat Café in Pune.