Fiat India, on Friday, commenced the production of its much awaited mid-sized Sedan, Linea, at its Ranjangaon plant near Pune and plans to launch the car in December.
"The start of production of Linea is an important milestone for us and is a significant step in fulfilling the promise we had made at the Auto Expo in New Delhi earlier this year," Fiat India Automobiles Ltd's CEO, Rajeev Kapoor, said. "The plant has made progress as planned and all the facilities are set to move into top gear from hereon. We have also commenced export activity from the plant and would continue to do so to utilize the capacities at the plant,"
"The consumer has become more selective. We also see an opportunity in the slowdown," he said, referring to the global economic meltdown. The pricing of the car would be decided closer to its launch next month.
Linea is a C plus segment sedan, was launched internationally in May 2007 in Istanbul, after which it met with great success in all markets worldwide. An elegantly functional car, with a strong Italian imprint, it will be equipped with features found in higher segment cars. The car will come with an upgraded version of the 1.3 MultiJet Diesel Engine which does the duty in Fiat Palio and Maruti Swift but will develop a higher 90 bhp and 210 nm of torque. The petrol units have options of 1.4 L FIRE and a 1.6L engines, but performance and output specs have not been revealed yet.
Linea will be followed by the launch of the world famous hatch back Grande Punto at the start of next year. The Grande Punto is a top-seller in Europe and has an annual sales of about 3,50,000 (A potential Maruti Swift killer).
Fiat India Automobiles Ltd is an equal joint venture between Fiat and India's Tata Motors. Fiat India Automobiles, recently signed a MoU with the Government of Maharashtra to enhance the capacities at the plant. Apart from manufacturing of Fiat and Tata cars, the facility will also produce powertrain engines. The facility also manufactures Fiat's successful 1.3 litre Multijet diesel engines and 1.2 and 1.4 litre FIRE gasoline engine. Apart from Fiat cars, the facility will also produce Tata passenger and next generation cars, the company said.
IAB Comment: Honda City, Maruti SX4, Ford Fiesta & Hyundai Verna - Watch Out!!
Fiat Linea Gallery
Source: TeamBHP
