For the past six years, Tata Motors has been managing the distribution and service responsibility of the Fiat branded products in India through joint Tata-Fiat dealerships, but the Italian automaker has now decided to go on its own and take over management control of its commercial and distribution activities in the country.
Established in 2006, the Fiat-Tata joint venture also includes manufacturing activities located in Ranjangaon, which produce Fiat and Tata cars as well as engines and transmissions for both the Indian and export markets and recently announced a contract to supply its Small Diesel Engine to Maruti Suzuki.
The manufacturing deal, which has produced some 190,000 cars and 337,000 powertrains, remains in place and is not affected by Fiat’s decision to set up its own car dealer network in India.
“Development of the new Fiat dealer network for India will start progressively and the 178 existing Fiat-franchised Tata dealers in 129 cities will be encouraged to form the foundation of the future network,” Fiat said in a statement.
The Italian automaker said that it will establish a new, separate, company which will assume responsibility for all commercial and service related activities from the current Tata-dedicated team assigned to manage the Fiat brand
VIDEO