Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Sunday, Jul 06, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Sunday, Jul 06, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Cars Corporate - Outlook Italy's Alfa Romeo keen on India entry Manu P. Toms Recently in Milan Confirming the reports of its India entry, the Alfa Romeo CEO, Mr Luca de Meo, said that it is one of the top priorities of the company. Alfa Romeo, the Italian manufacturers of sporty cars, is part of the Fiat Group. "We are looking at it with great interest. This matter will be in our focus as one of the most important thing in the world," Mr Luca de Meo told newspersons from India on the sidelines of the global launch of its compact sporty car Alfa MiTo. Meanwhile, Fiat sources indicated that the company is in the process of launching the Alfa Romeo brand in India, possibly in the last quarter of this year. However, Mr Luca de Meo declined to put out a timeframe for the India entry saying, "there is no fixed decision". He said that the launch of Alfa Romeo in countries such as India is part of globalisation of the brand. The primary focus would be on popularising the brand. "From image point of view, Ferrari is the most global brand in our portfolio. We understand that we need to do a lot (to popularise the brand Alfa Romeo)." Mr Luca de Meo did not give details about the models to be launched in India. However, it is almost clear that the company does not have immediate plans to launch its latest model Alfa MiTo in India. The first Asian market where Alfa Romeo plans to launch MiTo is Japan, where the sporty mini-car will be launched in April 2009. MiTo has been launched in Italy and will be available in Europe except the UK, a right-handdrive market, where it will be launched. MiTo, in all probability, would come to India by 2010 as the company wants to globally sell 300,000 units of the model in two years. The market for sporty compact cars has not yet been opened in India. Alfa Romeo organised the global launch of MiTo for journalists from different parts of the world at Milan where the car was originally designed. The four-metre car is priced at ?17,950-?20,350 for petrol and ?18,950-?21,350 for diesel, which comes in the range of Rs 12- Rs 14 lakh. Company officials claimed that MiTo with 6.5 km per litre fuel efficiency and 153 gm per km CO2 emission is the least CO2 emitting car in the sporty compact segment. Alfa Romeo expects that the characteristics of this car, especially its compact nature, would appeal to non-European markets and help it become a volume player.Fiat aims at 90% localisation in 2 years Fiat eager to bring Ferrari to India More Stories on : Cars | Outlook
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