Fiat India to Export to SAARC Countries

The boom in the Indian and Chinese automotive market is slowly engulfing the entire Asia, with markets all over the continent beginning to grow quite a hefty appetite for new vehicles. Whereas the success of American and German manufacturers has somewhat solidified in the area in the past year or so, the Italians from Fiat are just beginning to get a taste of the good times ahead.

In preparation for future, Fiat India, a joint venture between Fiat and Tata Motors, announced it will begin exporting its vehicles in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries. The new export markets should help the carmaker boost its sales by 60 percent, to around 40,000 units a year.

The boost in sales is expected to be strengthened by the launch of the new Grande Punto. Out of the 2,500 units already being sold by the company each month, around 1,500 are Puntos.

“We are looking to export our cars Palio, Linea and Punto in Saarc countries including Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh as these are right hand driving countries,” Tarun Khanna, Fiat India Marketing chief told Business Standard.

"Last year, we sold 24,000 units and in this fiscal, we are looking to sell 40,000 units, which will be powered by new variants," Khanna said.

Fiat's high goals are accompanied by those of Ferrari, a company which plans to launch on the Indian market in 2011. The tie-up between the Italian group and India is also strengthened by the presence of Ratan Tata on the board of Fiat Auto.