Fiat Cars

Fiat (or Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli and is based in Turin in the Piedmont region. As of 2009, it is Italy’s largest and the world’s ninth largest car maker.

The Fiat Group has operations in over 190 countries with 203 plants, 118 research centers, 633 companies and more than 198,000 employees. The Fiat Group owns six car brands namely Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Abarth, Maserati and Ferrari.

Fiat-based cars are constructed all around the world, with the largest number produced outside Italy being built in Brazil, where they are best-sellers. It also has factories in Argentina and Poland. Joint venture operations are found in Italy, France, Turkey, India, Pakistan, China, Serbia and Russia. As of 2010, Fiat also owns a 25% stake in the “New Chrysler” which it obtained in 2009 as part of Chrysler’s bankruptcy proceeding.

Fiat has been in India since 1944 through its licensing agreement with Premier Automobiles Limited (PAL). PAL produced models like Fiat 500 and Fiat 1100 until 1973 when it started to use the Premier name on its cars. The Premier Padmini was based on the Fiat 1100 whilst the Premier 118 & Premier 138D were based on the Fiat 124.

Fiat India Automobiles Limited (FIAL) is a 50-50 Industrial Joint Venture between Fiat Group Automobiles S. p. A. and Tata Motors Limited. The company employs about 2775 blue & white collar employees .The board of directors for this company comprises of five nominees each from Fiat and Tata.

Its assembly plant is at Ranjangaon, Maharashtra, which was built with an initial investment of Euros 650 million has an installed capacity of 200,000 cars and 300,000 engines. This plant is among the largest power train manufacturing plants of Fiat anywhere in the world. Apart from producing Fiat and Tata cars, it will also export engines to other Fiat facilities across Europe. The plant currently rolls out Linea, Punto and Palio for Fiat as well as Indica and Indigo Manza for Tata Motors. The company plans to double the production capacity for both the car units and engines in the next few years.

Fiat was the inventor of the Multijet Diesel Engine and is known for its diesel technology. A large percentage of the cars in India run on Fiat diesel technology.

Fiat cars in India are sold and serviced through Tata Motors dealers. The company has 150 dealer outlets in 106 cities.

Established in 1899, Fiat is one of the world’s major industrial groups. With operations in over 190 countries, the Group has 203 plants, 118 research centers, 633 companies and more than 198,000 employees. One of the founders of the global automotive industry, right from inception Fiat pursued a two-pronged development strategy: penetration into foreign markets and focus on innovation. This focus on innovation is evidenced by the technical quality of its products and the adoption of cutting-edge industrial and organizational systems.

The Group’s business is carried out through several operating Sectors: Fiat Group Automobiles (Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Abarth brands), Maserati and Ferrari (luxury sports cars), CNH (agricultural and construction equipment), Iveco (trucks and commercial vehicles), Fiat Powertrain Technologies (engines and transmissions), Magneti Marelli (automotive components), Teksid (engine blocks, cylinder heads and other components), Comau (automated production systems) and Itedi (publishing & communications).

On 11 July 1899, a group of people got together and founded “Societa Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino.” This company produced automobiles. Giovanni Agnelli was one of the founding members of Fiat. In 1902 he became the Managing Director of the company.

Agnelli was the son of Edoardo Agnelli and Aniceta Frisetti and he was born in Villar Perosa, near Piedmont. Agnelli studied at the Collegio San Giuseppe in Turin and became a mayor in 1895. In 1898, he met Emanuele Bricherasio di Cacherano of Turin, who was looking for investors for his project. Agnelli was on the founding team of Fiat and a year later, he became the managing director and then the chairman in 1920.

The company started selling shares on the Milan stock exchange. Agnelli bought many of the shares and he also started going to the Ford factory and  adopted various practices that he observed. He was with FIAT at the start of the Second World War and died after the war ended in 1945. Agnelli was born in 1866 and was Italian by origin.

• 1899: At Palazzo Bricherasio, the company charter of "Società Anonima Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino" was signed.
• 1900: The first factory was opened in Corso Dante.
• 1902: The first real competition car, a 24 HP driven by Vincenzo Lancia, won the Sassi-Superga uphill race.
• 1934 and 1936: Two cars were produced: the "Balilla", also called "Tariffa minima" which had a low consumption of fuel, and the "Topolino", the smallest utilitarian car in the world.
• 1945: This was the year in which Senator Giovanni Agnelli died and the presidency of the Fiat was awarded to Vittorio Valletta.
• 1951: The first Italian jet aircraft came into being, the G80.
• 1953: The first Fiat> diesel engine vehicle was manufactured, the 1400 diesel.
• 1971: After Fiat 850, a new popular utilitarian car, the 127, made its debut.
• 1979: Fiat Auto S.p.A., came into being, which included the brands such as Fiat, Lancia, Autobianchi, Abarth, Ferrari.
• 1989: The Tipo, was voted "Car of the year" for its cutting-edge technical solutions.
• 1993: Fiat Punto (named "Car of the Year" in 1995) and Fiat Coupé, with bodywork designed by Pininfarina and Centro Stile Fiat.
• 2006: The New Doblò and Sedici, the 4x4xTUTTI for city and off-road driving, and the official car of the 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
• 2007:  The Bravo was launched preceded by the first ever institutional Fiat blog. Bravo is the first car to sport the new Fiat logo as a tangible sign of the company's turnaround. The new Bravo is a successful blend of beauty and substance, destined to become a benchmark for the segment.

Fiat’s vision is to be “An Italian Company that builds cars with original styling and a wealth of intelligent solutions that are therefore capable of guaranteeing a better quality of everyday life through:

• Balance of value and good performance
• Safety
• Continuous Innovation

Fiat believes in challenging the obvious. It believes that it is a smiling and stylish brand. It is stylish brand with an Italian design. Fiat has multijet and starjet burstproof engines. It is also extremely ecological, as it is Euro 4 and Euro 5 compliant. It is a safe and smart brand.

• Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, President & CEO
• Mr. Kapoor joined Fiat India in October of 2007. Prior to joining Fiat, he was involved with Hero Honda.
• Alfredo Altavilla- Altavilla is the CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies and senior vice-president business development of Fiat Group Automobiles. 
• Mr. Ravi Bhatia, Head - Commercial
• Mr. Ravi Gogia, Head - Manufacturing
• Mr. Anil Joshi, Head - Legal & Company Secretary
• Mr. Sudhakar Panda - Head HR
• Mr. Marius D’ Lima - Head Corporate Communications

Fiat India Automobiles Limited produces the Fiat Linea at its Ranjangaon plant near Pune in Maharashtra. The 200 acre facility has a body shop, assembly line, and a paint shop.  The project was a Rs. 4000 crore project which was shared between the Fiat Group Automobiles and Tata Motors. The plant is in the Industrial Development Zone and has a total land area of 8,50,000 square meters.

Fiat signed a MoU with the Government of India to enhance the production capacity at the plant. The plant will produce powertrain engines, Fiat and Tata cars. The plant produces 2 lakh cars, 3 lakh engines and 3 lakh parts and accessories per year.

The Ranjangoan plant is currently producing the Palio Stile, 1.1 and 1.6 models, and the premium Fiat cars such as the Grande Punto and Linea. This facility will manufacture the 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine and the 1.2 and 1.4 litre Fire gasoline engine. The facility will also produce Tata passenger cars and next generation cars.

Fiat’s MultiAir Technology increases fuel efficiency by 20 to 30 per cent and also increases 10 percent in power. It improves the lower RPM by 15 per cent through early intake valve closing strategies. There is a 10 per cent reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions. The engines cause 25 per cent fuel economy improvement over other engines.

The first car with the MultiAir engine was the Alfa Mi.

This technology works when a piston is connected to an intake valve through a hydraulic chamber which is controlled by an on/off solenoid valve.

The oil in the hydraulic chamber is a solid when the solenoid is closed but when it is open, the intake valves do not follow the intake camshaft.

There is a hydraulic brake that ensures a soft and regular landing phase in any engine operating conditions.

Through solenoid valve opening and closing time control, a wide range of optimum intake valve opening schedules can be easily obtained.

The solenoid valve is always closed and full valve opening is done for full usage.

The following are the list of awards won by Fiat India in 2010:

• NDTV profit car & bike awards 2010 - Mid size car of the year - Fiat Linea.
• CNBC TV18 Overdrive awards 2010 - Storyboard auto commercial of the year - Fiat Linea ( Father & Son)
• The Golden Steering Wheel 2010 ( Auto Bild) - Readers choice car of the year - Fiat Linea.
• Bloomberg UTV Autocar awards 2010 - Car advertisement of the year - Fiat Linea ( Father & Son )
• Carwale awards 2010 - Car of the year ( Editors Choice) - Fiat Linea.
• Bloomberg UTV Autocar awards 2010 - Best Design & Styling - Fiat Grande Punto.
• Economic Times - Zigwheels car of the year award 2009 - Premium Hatchback of the year - Fiat Grande Punto.

Awards won by Fiat India in 2011:

• Top gear award for most improved car of the year - Fiat Linea T Jet.

Fiat’s South American operations are the most profitable for the company in its global operations. With this in mind, Fiat has done two things: increased its labor force in Brazil and invested in expanding the Cordoba plant in Argentina. Fiat added 1,700 workers to the Brazilian plant to increase production and plans to produce 2,700 units per day.

At the Argentine plant of Cordoba will the be the production of the Sienna in really small numbers. It also wants to have the same strategy for China. The investment in Cordoba is on the lines of 60 million dollars and is done in order to free up the capacity in the Brazilian plant of Betim. The Cordoba plant has an annual capacity of 50,000 units. Fiat’s global rivals are Volkswagen and General Motors. Betim’s production of the Sienna is 77,972 units as of 2006.

The company exports cars to South Africa & Nepal.  Exports to Sri Lanka, is also on cards. The company is also in the process of developing network in Bhutan and Bangladesh. Cars exported to South Africa are Linea, Punto and Palio (All petrol engines). To Nepal, the company exports Linea and Punto, both in petrol and diesel variants. In Nepal, the company has two showrooms. The company is also exploring other RHD (right hand drive) markets.

In 2011, Fiat plans to launch the Future Panda, the Punto EVO MY, the Fiat L0 5-seater, the Fiat L0 7-seater, the Linea FL, the New Fiat I segment, the Futura Ypsilon, the New Sedan – D Seg, the Cabrio – D Seg, the New L2 Segment, the New E segment, the Future Panda Van, the Scudo MY, the Ducato MY, the Strada FL.

Fiat also plans to introduce the City Car by 2013, a new version of the Punto EVO by 2013, the Entry level B car by 2012, the MPV 5 seater version and MPV 7 seater version by 2012.

The company is planning to add the higher-end variant of Linea in 2011. This car will be smaller than the Punto and will be powered by a 1.0 litre engine. The dealer network is expected to grow to 200 dealers across the country, and the localization of Punto and Linea will go up from 85 percent to 90 per cent.

Registered Office & Factory

Fiat India Automobiles Limited
B-19, Ranjangaon MIDC Industrial Area,
Ranjangaon - 412210
Taluka - Shirur
District - Pune (Maharashtra)
Tel: +91-(0)2138-672700, 232144 / 5 / 6 / 7
Fax: +91-(0)2138-232143
Website: http://www.fiat-india.com

Mumbai Office

Fiat India Automobiles Limited
Corporate Park - II,
Old Palam Gurgaon Road,
5th Floor, Sion Trombay Road,
Chembur,
Mumbai - 400071
Tel: +91-(0)22-67293800

Sales Enquiries

Tata Motors Limited
Passenger Car Business Unit,
5th Floor, One Forbes,
Dr V B Gandhi Marg,
Mumbai - 400001
Tel: +91-(0)22-66930400