10 More Fiat Dealerships in India

Fiat hadn’t had a good 2009, as the Italian car manufacturer posted serious losses. As a result, Fiat’s CEO Sergio Marchionne decided to take some drastic measures. First he decided to permanently close down Fiat’s Termini Imerese factory in Sicily. Secondly, he decided to terminate all production throughout Italy for two weeks, starting February 22, due to the lack of orders.

Though Fiat seems to be backing down in Europe because of the low demand, Fiat India will open 10 showrooms in its existing network by the end of the 2010. The new dealerships will be opened in new cities as well as cities where dealerships already exists.

"Presently, we have 100 dealerships in 78 cities in the country. We propose to add 10 more dealers by December 2010," a company spokesperson told Indiacar.com.

Fiat India kept extending its dealership network. Just recently it opened the 100th showroom worldwide (4th overall in Mumbai). The new dealership incorporates sales, service and spare parts.

Fiat India Automobiles is a joint venture between the Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. and Tata Motors. The collaboration started on January 2, 1997, and has been done as a 50-50 joint venture. Fiat India’s plant located at Ranjangaon produces 200,000 cars and 300,000 engines each year. The facility manufactures the Palio Stile 1.1, 1.6 versions, Linea and the Grande Punto, as well as Fiat's 1.3 litre multijet diesel engines and 1.2 and 1.4 litre fire gasoline engine.