Fiat Adventure Sport!

Fiat India seems to be following sir Robert Bruce's dictum 'Try, try and try again'. It is now trying to crack open the Indian market with its latest launch, the Rs 5.58-lakh (ex-Mumbai) Fiat Adventure Sport. Paolo Castagno, the company's Managing Director, says it is important to communicate the car's many attributes to the customer. "We're offering a high-end (actually C segment) car and that's exactly what the positioning will be. This needs to be done since it is not a mass product," he says, adding that this time, the company will ensure that after-sales services are readily and easily available "because it is not enough if you just have a good product."

Ironically, despite an over 50-year presence in the Indian market, Fiat remains a bit player here. Its brand has been substantially eroded and it sells barely 200 Palios and Siennas a month. How does Castagno plan to revive the magic of the Fiat brand? "Customers here need a good mix of product and price. It is important for us to take one step at a time," he emphasises. Castagno's target for his new baby: though he was unwilling to share numbers on this, it is learnt that he is hoping to sell at least 200 cars a month.

It's been a rough ride so far. In 2004, Fiat India wrote off accumulated losses of Rs 1,300 crore and today, appears more focussed on the country. "We have taken a long-term view and our seriousness can be gauged from the fact that we have invested Rs 2,000 crore since 1997," Castagno says. How confident is he of pulling it off? "The challenges are different now and we will do our best to succeed here," he says, pointing out that though Brazil was a tougher market (than India), Fiat today has a 30 per cent share in it.

Source: BT