An exclusive interview with Fiat India President and CEO Rajeev Kapoor.

Business Barons: Fiat is already an established carmaker globally. What are the firm’s expansion plans for India and South Asia?

Rajeev Kapoor: Having set up world-class manufacturing facilities at Ranjangaon, Pune, Fiat would now be an aggressive player in the Indian car market. Linea and Punto, launched in 2009, have received a high level of acceptance by customers, auto critics and the media. We are already exporting these cars to South Africa and would be looking to expand to other RHD markets open to us.

BB: What is the company’s current order book position for all models and by when is it likely to be executed?
Kapoor: There is no waiting list for Fiat cars. We are implementing a unique “Lean Order Management” system with our distributor, Tata Motors, to ensure that dealers have full visibility of production and book a car for the customer with an ensured delivery window. We have already sold about 12,000 Lineas and 9,200 Puntos in the first 10 months and five months of launch respectively.
BB: Indian markets have suffered from major constraints owing to the ongoing US economic crisis. Please give us a brief about your current financial position.
Kapoor: We have not been affected much by the economic crisis as we were planning our first launch, Linea, when the crisis hit the global economy. We could revise the outlook and implement corrective measures to minimize the impact.
BB: What is your outlook and view of the current Indian car market?
Kapoor: If you consider India, the market is growing very well now after a dip in the first half of 2009, thanks to high domestic demand. I expect this to continue. However, the customer preference is changing as more people are opting for high-end cars within segments. Style, performance and safety are top considerations in buying decisions. However, price or value proposition is still the major differentiator.
India is becoming the hub for small cars and we are going to see several new launches in this already crowded segment. Ensuring  volumes and keeping costs under check is going to be major challenge.
BB: The auto industry globally is facing a slowdown. Please comment.
Kapoor: The trend across the globe, excluding India and China, supports this phenomenon. With the economic slowdown, period of ownership is extending. However, a move towards small, fuel-efficient cars, aptly supported by government programmes, has resulted in a small upswing and this may continue.
The need is to reduce development expenses, bring in cars which are fuel-efficient and environment-friendly and keep a check on overall costs of the car.
BB: Please give us an insight into the current projects in Fiat’s pipeline.
Kapoor: Having launched the Linea and Punto, we will work towards consolidating these products. There are several new variants in the pipeline which would be showcased during Auto Expo 2010 in New Delhi. This will allow Fiat customers to have a wider choice of models.
We have already launched “Fiat First”, an all-encompassing customer care program for Fiat customers, which comprises extended warranty, 24x7 roadside assistance and availability of genuine spare parts at competitive prices. The task is to ensure that all Fiat customers enroll in the plan and have worry-free driving pleasure in Fiat cars.
To support this initiative, we have opened a new spare parts warehouse near Pune and along with our partners, Tata Motors, we are ensuring spare parts availability to our dealers on optimized lead time.
BB: What are the current trends in the auto industry?
Kapoor: The small car segment continues to be the mainstay and the key focus of new competitive activity. The focus, as I said earlier, is on better technologies to improve performance, fuel economy and emissions. At the same time, customers are opting for feature-rich cars even within small cars, and the market is moving towards better style, performance and safety features, and near-parity to developed markets.
BB: What is the USP that your company enjoys within the auto sector?
Kapoor: Fiat is known for the safe and sturdy design of its cars. Added to this is a very Italian body design which appeals to customers. This not only makes our cars look stunning but also safe to drive. We have also added features which are normally not found in this segment. Our unique “Blue and Me” allows the occupants of the car to connect a cell phone with the car audio system and receive calls, dial a number or receive an SMS — all without taking his/her hands off the steering wheel.
With total control over power train design, which is also manufactured at Ranjangaon, the car can be calibrated to deliver optimal perfor-
mance in any driving situation.
BB: What do you attribute Fiat India’s success to?
Kapoor: Learning from the past and our weak-
nesses, taking advantage of our association with Tata Motors for network development and product design as well as manufacturing knowledge available at Fiat, Turin.
BB: How different is your company from other leading players in the auto industry?
Kapoor: We started by setting up our manufac-
turing facilities at Ranjangaon and developing a robust vendor base to ensure a high level of localisation. This is important to ensure not only quality but also to keep costs under control.
A distribution channel was developed  rapidly by selecting existing Tata Motors dealers in strategic locations. We had 65 dealers in place when we launched Linea in January 2009 and this number has grown to over 100 now. All Tata-Fiat dealers have a new identity and offer a unique buying experience, at par with the dealership experience anywhere in the world.
Extensive training was done for technicians and sales personnel to ensure a world-class buying and service experience. This is a continuous process and we now have regional hubs for training.
To reduce the lead time for proving and testing, we have an E&D set-up at Ranjangaon and design changes and  work on new initiatives are being done locally. q                                                                 

Fiat India’s Sales Report upto Nov ’09
Month / Year Total Sales
January 2009 1721
February 2009 1309
March 2009 1781
April 2009 1289
May 2009 1227
June 2009 2568
July 2009 2783
August 2009 2842
September 2009 2605
October 2009 2287
November 2009 2080
Total 22492

Rajeev Kapoor, President & CEO, Fiat India

Rebuilding An Iconic Brand

When Fiat Spa first started looking at making a dynamic comeback into the Indian auto market, after a bit of a slump, it was seeking a man with a vision. Someone who understood the iconic brand and what it stood for. A man to revitalise the brand’s presence in India and bring it to the forefront. A man with a cutting edge. Enter: Rajeev Kapoor.
Ever since his appointment as Fiat India’s first ever Indian CEO, Mr. Kapoor has been on a focused mission. Using the years of expertise that he garnered from a successful stint with Hero Honda Motors Limited, his sole objective was to overturn the image of Fiat in the minds of the Indian consumers and re-establish the brand loved by all.
In order to achieve this mission, he first laid down the gauntlet to other auto majors  with an extravagant unveiling of the Fiat Bravo, Fiat 500, Fiat Linea and Fiat Palio at Auto Expo 2008. The unique and elaborate unveilings left everyone at the Expo spellbound and lauding the Fiat brand.
Having set the tone for Fiat’s revival, Mr. Kapoor looked to add pace to his overall plan. Auto Expo 2008 was closely followed by the launch of the Palio 1.3 multijet. The multijet engine, Fiat’s groundbreaking brainchild, was being fitted into other cars. With this launch, customers could finally experience the complete Fiat package. The Palio 1.3 multijet enjoyed great success with Indian car buyers and soon become the benchmark for diesel automobiles in India.
Drawing on the success of the Palio 1.3 multi jet launch, Mr. Kapoor’s next step was to sign an MoU with the government of Maharashtra to increase the production capacity of Fiat India’s Ranjangaon facility. With the signing of this MoU, Fiat India would now increase its production capacity to two lakh cars, three lakh engines and three lakh units of other spare parts, gearboxes and accessories.
An otherwise very soft-spoken family man, Mr. Kapoor demonstrated that Fiat India was a force to reckon with. With increasing sales numbers and a growing fan base for the brand, Fiat launched the CBU Fiat 500 in July 2008. The Fiat 500 or the Cinquecento is an iconic car in the history of automobiles. Having received a host of international awards thanks to its chic looks and safe and comfortable driveability, the Fiat 500 was already a winner in foreign countries. By bringing this elegant beauty to India, Mr. Kapoor highlighted the fact that India had access to cutting-edge Fiat technology, on par with international standards.
Since that iconic launch, a number of auto majors have seen India as a market with a huge potential and an ideal platform for expansion. In a matter of a year-and-a-half, Mr. Kapoor had successfully changed Fiat India’s perception in the minds of consumers due to these bold and strategic moves.

Next in his quest to make Fiat a top brand in the Indian auto segment, he launched the Fiat Linea and the Fiat Grande Punto in 2009. The Fiat Linea, a luxury sedan, was launched in January 2009. After its grand launch function in Mumbai and its subsequent launches in other prominent centers, the sedan took the market by storm. The car sold over 10,000 units within nine months of its launch and continues to be a frontrunner in the sedan segment today. Its classy looks and outstanding performance have gone down exceptionally well with Indian consumers.
Riding on the success of the Fiat Linea, Fiat launched the Grande Punto in June 2009. The Punto paved the way for a new segment in the Indian market — the premium hatchback. With its bold Italian looks and wide array of features, the Grande Punto also began rolling in the numbers. The car had sold over 8,000 units within six months of its launch and in turn sealed Fiat’s return to the premium hatchback category in the Indian auto market. After the widespread success of the two cars, Mr. Kapoor then moved towards exporting them to South African markets and is looking to export to other Right Hand Drive countries as well.
With Fiat India now enjoying success in terms of sales numbers, the next move was to provide utmost care to customers by going on to launch Fiat First — an all-encompassing world-class service program in October 2009 (see interview). With this program, Fiat customers everywhere could avail of topline service to go with their Fiat cars. To support the service initiative, Fiat also opened a new spare parts warehouse near Pune to ensure spare availability for dealers at optimized lead time.
However, it isn’t just the upward movement of Fiat India’s sales and his deep understanding of consumer dynamics that have given Mr. Kapoor his high ranking amongst both the general public and corporate circles. His equable temperament and people-centric philosophy have also reached out to people’s hearts. His “People are at the heart of the matter” philosophy and open-door policy at work have been appreciated by Fiat employees, raising morale.
The benevolent attitude that he employs at work allows employees to enjoy space and independence while at the same time having the assurance that he is there for them. His focused approach at work mixed with a certain charm and wit make him a mentor to all Fiat employees, from ground level to the top. At the same time, Mr. Kapoor has also keenly understood the importance of training employees and set up a number of regional training hubs for Fiat technicians and sales personnel in order to ensure a world-class buying and sales experience for Fiat customers.
Clearly, for these reasons, Mr. Kapoor is widely seen as the turnaround face of Fiat India.             q

Awards rain Down On Fiat Linea
n Fiat Linea awarded the “Car of the year’ by UTVi Autocar.
n The car was also awarded the “Midsize car of the year” by both UTVi Autocar and CNBC Overdrive.
n The Linea added one more feather to its cap when it was selected as the ‘BBC TopGear Medium Saloon 2008"award by TopGear.

Over the past couple of years, Fiat has witnessed a strong resurgence in the Indian auto market. While sales and marketing teams having played a significant role in the upturn in Fiat India’s fortunes, the company’s corporate communications team has been instrumental in garnering high overall visibility for the brand. This, coupled with proactive communication of the attributes and activities of the Fiat brand to mass consumers has contributed to a growing change of Fiat’s image in the minds of Indian buyers. By developing an overall strategic perspective that can be executed in an engaging manner which will reach out to the Indian public, Fiat’s corporate communications team has looked to consolidate the position of Fiat amidst an ultra-competitive Indian auto market.
Until two years back, Fiat was seen as a company with a bleak service network, suspect after-sales service and a strong association with the “black and yellows” that ply Indian roads. Although far from the brand’s actual positioning of classy, stylish and efficient cars, the perception served as a hard-hitting truth and a tonic for revival.
Over the past few years, the image of Fiat, one of the world’s most significant auto companies, has begun to take radical reshaping in India. By closely understanding the brand positioning and value of the Fiat brand, the corporate communications team has over the last couple of years taken a number of steps to etch the values of style, class and efficiency into the minds of Indian consumers.
The first major step taken by Fiat was the glitz-laden launch of the Fiat 500 in India. The Fiat 500 or Cinquecento is a car that signifies ultimate style and luxury. It portrays beauty, panache and is seen as a true collector’s item. A car made for a very niche market segment, the Fiat 500 had already enjoyed widespread success globally. The launch of the same car in Indian markets was Fiat’s first step towards rewriting existing perceptions by showcasing the company as a creator of stylish cars. The Fiat 500 was launched by stunning Bollywood actress and ex-Miss Universe Lara Dutta. The association of Ms. Dutta with such an iconic car clearly earmarked Fiat as a brand redolent of beauty and style. It was also an important brand-building exercise that helped animate Indian consumers and made them look forward to what resurgent Fiat had in store next.
After the successful launch of the Fiat 500, Fiat India then went on to launch its two marquee cars – the Fiat Linea and the Fiat Grande Punto. Through these launches and the media coverage that ensued, corporate communications was effectively able to create an aura of class and style around Fiat cars and dynamically change the previous perception of Fiat’s image. By elaborating on the cars’ stylish looks and efficient performance, Fiat could successfully convey what it stood for – class, style and efficiency.
The overall task was also to significantly enhance consumer brand recall amongst the Indian public. This was ensured, in a proactive manner, through the dissemination of periodic announcements throughout the year. These announcements – such as Fiat closing a syndication of Rs. 2,500 crore and the Fiat Linea crossing 10,000 units within the first 10 months of its launch – ensured that Fiat as a brand received a high level of recall for Indian consumers. It also helped showcase that Fiat as a brand was both dynamic and highly proactive in its media approach.
With Indian car buyers now having a clearer picture of Fiat’s positioning of class and style, the corporate communications team conducted two high-decibel activities towards the end of 2009 to drive the point through. The first activity was the launch of ‘Fiat First’ – a comprehensive service program. Having gained sufficient visibility thanks to the car launches in the year, corporate communications now wished to convey Fiat’s unrelenting commitment towards quality customer service. The launch of ‘Fiat First’ did just that by making customers aware of the fact that Fiat buyers could now avail of 24x7 roadside assistance that makes the Fiat experience completely hassle-free. With the successful launch of Fiat First, Fiat was able to show Indian consumers that it had been able to identify mistakes from the past and rectify them swiftly and efficiently.
The second high-decibel activity conducted was ‘Fiat Diesel Drives India’ – an epic pan-India drive spanning over 10,000 km and passing through 16 Indian states. Flagged off on 27 October 2009 from the company’s Ranjangaon plant, the drive gave journalists from top auto journals, electronic channels, publications and websites the chance to take four of Fiat’s multijet diesel offerings – the Linea, Grande Punto, Palio and Fiat 500 – across India on a true test of endurance.
The entire month-and-a-half activity was organized with the aim of confirming Fiat as the pioneer of diesel technology in India as well as showcasing Fiat’s large and expanding service network.
By allowing auto experts to experience the cars over varying terrains themselves, Fiat created a positive perception through these opinion-makers. The experiential and enjoyable aspects of the cars through the words of opinion-makers were seen as the catalyst for change in Fiat India’s brand image in the minds of consumers.
Alongside this, the drive also offered the perfect opportunity to showcase Fiat’s large service network. To publicise this fact the company conducted media events in 14 cities that the cars passed through. These cities, which were also identified as media hubs, allowed Fiat India to garner sufficient visibility for its service network as well as its pan-India drive.
Finally, in order to further emphasise Fiat’s brand positioning of style and class, the company conducted photos shoots. The pictures of Bollywood actress Aarti Chabria and the models Paloma, Deeksha Shetty and Garima appeared in lifestyle supplements across India on the days following media events in those cities. This activity was then followed by a glamorous end to the drive with leading Bollywood actress Neha Dhupia and her model friends Anchal Kumar, Alecia Raut and Sandhya Shetty. These four ambassadors of style drove the cars for the final stretch of the drive and through the finish line. By carefully identifying and associating with iconic Indian beauties through the course of the entire drive Fiat India was able to transmit the key message of being a stylish and classy brand.
All this has gone a long way in establishing Fiat as a major player in the Indian market again as well as reigniting the love and passion amongst car buyers for a brand that has always been style and class personified.
-- Marius D’Lima, Head – Corporate Communications.

The Technology Edge
Fiat India Automobiles Limited defines information technology as a tool for innovation. It is an enabler to innovate within a working environment. The objectives are very clear: to convert innovation into world-class products, best-of-class quality, complete customer satisfaction and good value for money.
The approach towards information technology and goals were clearly defined when Fiat India started setting up the plant in year 2007-08. Various initiatives were planned right from the design stage to implement the most advanced and scalable information technology.
With a focused approach over the last two years, Fiat India has built a world-class automobile plant at the Ranjangaon facility near Pune. Use of RFID technology has helped the company to increase productivity across assembly lines and become more efficient and accurate on material handling. Production systems are tightly integrated with SAP so that production teams have complete visibility on the entire supply chain. Sequencing on the assembly line is being managed in an efficient way which has enabled Fiat to implement Just-In-Time process on the shops.
The key challenge for information technology was to integrate people and processes with parent companies Fiat and Tata Motors. This was needed to manage effectively the entire supply chain, from raw materials to end products with a global perspective. This includes integration of engineering and design centers to engineer vehicles to world-class standards. The multi-site PLM Suite is supporting Fiat to collaborate globally, share new ideas and generate world-class designs and style.
Fiat India has assumed several corporate social responsibilities under CEO Rajeev Kapoor to become a complete green organisation. One of the initiatives on this front was going green on information technology. All IT initiatives are planned to be coherent with minimising energy use and hazardous outputs and to optimise the use of IT resources. Keeping in mind the long-term objectives of a green data centre, data centers at the Ranjangaon facility are carefully planned in terms of business growth and technology. With this Fiat India has been able to reduce the footprint of the data center with less power and less cooling.
-- Deepak Kamat, Head – Information Computer Technology.

Fiat As Commerce
Brand
n Fiat started the rebuilding exercise in India with Auto expo 2008 where the new face of Fiat was showcased. Fiat launched the world-renowned multijet technology with the Palio Stile in the Indian market. Soon after, Indian customers saw the iconic Fiat 500 (Cinquecento) being introduced as a CBU. Locally manufactured Linea and Grande Punto were launched in 2009. Continuously working towards delivering beautiful and stylish products to its customers has been a relentless endeavour at Fiat.
n As a result of Fiat’s sustained efforts, the company has seen much awaited success with the launch of the Fiat Linea. As a strategy to rebuild the Fiat brand in India and move a step forward in establishing an emotional connect with customers, Fiat India introduced the much awaited Linea to Indian customers in January 2009. The brand new Linea was voted the “Car of the Year”. Catering to the unique needs of its customers, the car has a “wow” factor. Stunning looks, solid build and exceptional ride and handling make the Linea a class-leading product in its segment.
n The second step Fiat took to rebuild its Indian story was the launch of the Grande Punto in June 2009. Internationally in its third generation, the car has been positioned on a sporty platform in India with three engine options, the 1.3 lt multijet and the 1.2 lt and the 1.4 petrol engines. Though the Punto might not be the first on Indian roads to support Fiat’s distinguished multijet engine technology, it surely has all the ingredients that go into making a successful and bold new car.

Service Network
n With a consistently growing service network of 103 outlets across 77 cities in India and over 800 skilled service and sales field staff, Fiat has made powerful inroads towards achieving a strong sales and distribution network spread across the country.

Premium Retail Excellence Program - PREP
n Fiat India has initiated a Retail Excellence Program. Focusing on retail excellence for a deeper engagement with customers, Fiat has identified themes and initiatives that will act as drivers for dealer performance improvement and subsequently help the dealers to garner a larger market share and improve profitability.

n Premium Retail Excellence Program or PREP, as Fiat calls it aims at elevating dealer operating processes to deliver an enhanced customer experience.

FIAT FIRST – Fiat’s Customer Assurance Initiatives
n Introducing a new standard in customer service, Fiat has launched multiple initiatives directed towards forming a deeper connect with existing customers and improving customer perception.

Longest Warranty Coverage
n Fiat brings to its customers the longest warranty coverage of 50 months on its new range of vehicles.

Long Service Interval
n Fiat Linea and the Grande Punto have the longest service interval of 15,000 kms making them the first cars in there respective segments with this unique product feature.

24 x 7 Roadside Assistance Service
n This is a 24 x 7 roadside emergency service available for all Fiat vehicles.

Genuine parts
n Parts prices are benchmarked with competition and there is easy availability of genuine spare parts.
-- Ravi Bhatia, Vice President, Commercial.

Meeting The Challenge
“We in the supply chain team remembered our team meeting in December 2007 when we were not sure about how we were going to bring the material, where to store it and where to supply it – and finally when the car is ready where to park it. This was the time when we did not have the right people in place, the right warehouse in place, the production lines ready. And we were not ready with our finished goods yard. At the same time every team member had huge confidence and was willing to do anything to make our first launch for the Linea.
“There were numerous challenges – some within our control, some beyond our control but I always kept telling our team to focus and achieve what is in our hands, try our best and not to worry about things which are beyond our control. This simple magic worked to the advantage of our supply chain team and we could make our targets happen one by one in a short while in spite of all challenges.”
-- Kalpesh Pathak, Asst. Vice President, Supply Chain.

Engineered For Success
“Fiat India Automobiles Limited started its activities in its all-new facility in Ranjangaon, Pune in early-2007. The first product launched was the Fiat Palio Stile with a 1.1 litre petrol engine followed by the sport version with 1.6 litre petrol engine. The following year saw another two successful launches – the Palio Stile with the highly acclaimed 1.3 litre multijet diesel engine in April. We have launched Fiat 500 (Cinquecento), a compact two-door hatchback, with the 1.3 multijet engine. This car was the European Car of the Year, 2008.   The Fiat 1.3 multijet diesel engine is also supplied for use in Tata Motors’ Indica Vista and the newly launched Indigo Manza.
“We have launched two Fiat models in 2009. Backstage, the Engineering & Design (E&D) development team at Fiat India was continuously working on the Linea and the Grande Punto for localization, safety evaluation, emission tests, regulatory tests and reliability tests on Indian roads. The launch of these beautiful cars has underlined the predominance of Italian styling and also the efforts taken by the engineering team to bring curves to reality and to make these cars stand out among the competition. The Linea has already been the car of year and has won many other awards, domestic as well as international. The Punto has been a very successful model and sold over 16 million units worldwide. It has been proven to be a benchmark car in the upper hatchback segment.”
-- Jayanta Deb, Vice President, Engineering & Design.

Closing The Deal
“In August 2009 FIAL successfully closed a Rs. 2,500 crore financing package consisting of :
l Rs. 900 crore Servizi Assicurativi per il Commercio Estero S.p.A (SACE), the Italian ECA-supported financing;
l Rs. 1,000 crore syndicated local currency medium-term facility;
l Rs. 600 crore syndicated local currency working capital facility
“The purpose of this facility was capital expenditure and working capital financing in connection with construction and operation of our vehicle production plant in Ranjangaon, India. The untiring efforts of the finance team of FIAL as well as the Treasury team from TML and FGA were instrumental in concluding this deal.”
-- Abhay Bawle, Asst. Vice President, Finance.

Following Due Process
“The legal department of Fiat India Automobiles Limited has redefined corporate governance and ethical business practices in a new perspective to take it way beyond the expectations of a customary legal department — due to contemporary expectations.
“The legal department had to ensure that objectives did not drive actions and that regulatory aspects were always respected and fulfilled.  The expectations of stakeholders put added responsibility on the legal department to ensure proper integration of objectives under the direction of the Chief Executive Officer.
“The task, although it appears so, is not simple enough to give the legal department a run for its money.  ‘Getting things right always’ was always the objective, but, ‘getting things right always the first time’ was the challenge to fulfil.  It was a task to blend and integrate the expectations of a world player Fiat with the most powerful Indian corporate house, the Tatas, in the various agreements and understandings.”
-- Anil Joshi, Vice President, Legal.

A Matter Of Quality
“FIAT India (FIAL) has adopted the Fiat International Quality System which is a very stringent quality system in Europe, focusing on quality of design and conformance. We believe reliability plays an important role in brand fidelity and conducting statistical experimental tests, specifically aimed towards reliability and to confirm overall effectiveness and realization before product launch.
“Fiat is focused on total quality manage-
ment. We are committed to employees’ training as a cornerstone for quality. Fiat has developed a very competitive workforce by providing overseas training at Fiat Italy. This is one of the main tools for development. Our people are trained on Fiat’s world-class manfucaturing practices and product-specific practical training. We are giving continuous training to all employees to improve skills to achieve the desired levels of customer quality delight.”
-- R. Sivanesan, Vice President, Quality.

A Safe Environment
“Environmental, health and safety management systems in the Ranjangaon

plant have been implemented as per international standards. State-of-the-art facilities have been established to treat effluent discharges to internally defined limits which are   more stringent than prescribed requirements. The treated effluent is used in plant activities, thus making the plant a zero-discharge unit. Cross-functional teams have also been formed to achieve better environmental performance by taking measures to optimize the consumption of resources. The occupational health centre in the plant is fully supported and professionally managed by an expert team of Ruby Hall Clinic , Pune.
“Energy conservation is an ongoing activity in the plant. Adequate measures have been included at the design/procurement stage to ensure energy-efficient operations and processes.”
-- Rakesh Baweja, Asst. Vice President, Plant Services.

Diversified And Localised
“The plant at Ranjangaon has car and powetrain manufacturing facilities. Since both the car and powertrain follow advanced engineering processes and technology, they require quite a few follow sources for both car and powertrain to be established in India through Indian partners. We have started this localisation of powertrain and car in 2007.
“While developing vendors, special emphasis has been given to location, considering logistics and other conditions. Hence in terms of a Fiat car, more than 70% by value is put together in Pune and Maharastra, 20% in the North and 10% in the South. In terms of powertrain the trend is similar – value more than 65% in Pune and Maharastra, 20% in the South and 15% in the North. It has been attempted to achieve the highest percentage localisation by value in the industry for both car and powertrain from the beginning.”
-- Ranen Chatterjee, Head – Purchase.

Maintaining High Standards
“The project implementation of the powertrain facility was done in record time as was the case for FIAL overall. From the start of building erection (June 2007) to the rollout of the first locally produced powertrain (July 2008) barely 13 months elapsed, probably a record for a facility of this scale (the facility has a covered area of approximately 85,000 square meters). Since then, over 100,000 engines and 75,000 transmissions have been produced in Ranjangaon. 
“The installed capacity of the powertrain facility is 350,000 engines (250,000 diesels and 100,000 petrol) and 300,000 transmissions per annum. The main components like cylinder block, cylinder head, crankshaft, transmission shafts and gears are machined inhouse. The machining lines consist of flexible CNC machining centers and CNC special purpose machines from the world’s leading manufacturers. State-of-the-art measuring machines integrated in the machining lines check the machine parts to ensure the highest standards of quality. The handling of components from machine to machine is completely automated by means gantry or auto loaders, eliminating handling damages.
“The words that best describe Fiat’s multijet diesel engines are ‘breakthrough technology’. With the introduction of the state-of-the-art multijet engines, Fiat paved the way for refined, more efficient diesel cars across the world. Until the introduction of these engines, diesel automobiles were seen as non eco-friendly and low on power. The multijet engines helped change customer perception and increase the penetration of diesel vehicles in automobile markets worldwide. Customers now see diesel cars as powerful yet low on consumption. In some cases they are even considered to be more powerful than some gasoline (petrol) automobiles.”
-- Gurpratap Boparai, Asst. Vice President, Power Train Div.

Spirit Of Innovation
“We are creating a culture of ‘business out-performance’, while managing to meet the expectations of stakeholders, customers and employees. The HR function at Fiat is clearly focused and acts as an internal ‘strategic business partner’ which addresses and contributes towards exponential growth, customer-focused, quality and cost and delivery commitment as a way of life.
“We have a number of foreign counterparts who come from different cultures and we place them on special assignments along with our employees to give them a taste of what it is like to work with people from different backgrounds as also people who may have a completely different approach and mindset. I think that Fiat combines entrepreneurial spirit with professionalism. It is a place where young people have a lot of opportunities with challenges and innovation.”
-- Sudhakar Panda, Vice President, Human Resources.

Meeting The Challenge
“For our Ranjangaon car plant, 2009 has been full of challenges. The plant has seen the start-up of three new models – Linea and  Punto from Fiat and Indigo Manza from Tata Motors. Three start-ups was very challenging from the view of training of personnel as the three models were built on the same line. The Ranjangaon car plant saw the start-up of the state-of-the-art paint shop in March 2009. Besides, there was the introduction of local suspension parts in the body shop and assembly shop and also introduction of sheet metal panels on the Linea and Punto.
“For the plant it was a year to set up world-class manufacturing systems. We had to train the team on the quality aspects of the car, and at the same time ensure that market requirements were fulfilled. The team at the car plant worked with high dedication and commitment towards meeting the challenges successfully.”
-- Ravi Gogia, Vice President, Car Division.

Servicing The Customer

 -- Sudhir Bansal, Asst. Vice President, Parts & Services.