FIAL begins production fom Ranjangaon facility

Pune: Fiat India Automobiles (FIAL) has commenced production of the Linea at the Tata Motors-Fiat facility at Ranjangaon.

The first indigenously manufactured unit of the sedan rolled out off the assembly line at the flip of a button by Mr Rajeev Dube, President, passenger cars, Tata Motors, to the accompaniment of Vedic chants by a battery of priests and religious rituals.

The commercial launch of the Linea, pronounced a C-plus segment offering, is scheduled for mid-December. It will be distributed by Tata-Fiat dealers, and the price is still being worked out, Mr Rajeev Kapoor, Managing Director and CEO, FIAL, said.

Pointing out that Fiat was rolling out a car on a brand new platform from its manufacturing facility after 2001, when the Palio was launched from its (now defunct) Kurla plant, Mr Kapoor said, “The new car will help establishment of the Fiat brand in a new avatar.”

Mr Dube called the roll out of the Linea a milestone event that was a major step taken to revitalise the brand. “Anything Tata Motors can do to support re-establishment of the brand, we will be happy to do,” he said.

The Linea, which will be available in a total of six variants, with both diesel (1.3 l) and petrol (1.4 l) engine options, will be produced at a newly commissioned assembly line at Ranjangaon. The current level of localisation is 55 per cent and this will rise to 90 per cent by December 2009, Mr Kapoor said.

The company is enhancing the number of sales outlets from 60 to around 100 by the end of January 2009, and expects to sell 2,500 units a month a few months into commercial launch, he added.

Set up as a Rs 4,000-crore 50:50 joint venture project between Tata Motors and Fiat, the Ranjangaon plant has an installed capacity to produce 200,000 cars and 300,000 power trains per annum.