Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will finally pull the plug on its Fiat brand in India. The company’s current product lineup includes Fiat Punto, Linea and their derivatives, namely, Fiat Abarth Punto, Fiat Avventura and Fiat Urban Cross. All Fiat cars have been on sale for over a decade and didn’t receive any major update. In fact, the sales of the vehicles have been constantly dropping over past few years.
The Fiat models such as Linea sedan and Grande Punto crossover registered combined sales of just 101 units from December 2017 to November 2018, which is certainly disappointing for the company. Both these models will require upgrade for the upcoming stricter safety norms and BSVI emission regulations. And making an investment on such slow selling products is out of question. Therefore, the company has asked its dealers to sell Fiat cars without ABS (anti-lock braking system) before the ABS will become compulsory for all cars – i.e. April, 2019.
One more reason behind pulling out the Fiat brand from India is the lack of BSVI-ready diesel engine. Since the Italian carmaker is the major diesel powertrain supplier (1.3L Multijet) for two brands – Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors, its inability to bear engine upgrading cost will leave no choice for the company but to shut down its operations.
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