The Hindu Business Line : Fiat's blueprint for India delayed

FIAT'S blueprint for India will not be out till the second quarter of next year because of delay in implementing the parent's global restructuring plan.

A Fiat official told Business Line that Fiat's restructuring plans are getting delayed, which has affected Fiat India's plans as well. Mr Ravi Bharadwaj, Director, Fiat India, had earlier said that the blueprint for India would be ready by November.

The blueprint was to spell out Fiat's investment plan, new brand launches as well as marketing strategy.

The official said that the delay in preparing the blueprint would not hamper the Indian operations.

The company has enough resources till a new investment plan is put in place, he added.

Though Fiat is understood to be carrying out road test for its popular car, Panda, a decision on its launch will now be delayed further.

However, the sales of the Petra sedan - which was launched in the first quarter of this year - have not been as per the target though it has been selling around 400 units per month with the diesel variant selling more than the petrol version. The Palio too sells around 400 per month.

With the introduction of Petra, Fiat had targeted sale of around 15,000 cars in 2004. However, this target is unlikely to be achieved now.

Fiat has sold a total of 5,500 cars during the first six months of the year. To break even, it needs to sell around 20,000 cars annually.

The Fiat plant in India has a total capacity of around 65,000 units. The company has so far invested around Rs 2,000 crore in its Indian operations and has around 2,000 employees.

Fiat India recently wrote off accumulated losses worth Rs 1,300 crore as part of a move to clean up its balance sheet.

It expects to post revenues of around Rs 450 crore during the calendar year, the same as last year. The company exported around seven million euros worth of spare parts during 2003, which is expected to be the same in 2004 too.