As per the reports from Economic Times, FIAT India has yet again confirmed the development of an entry-level small car for India. It was earlier speculated that the revival of FIAT’s yesteryear small car, the Topolino, expected in 2012 is the same car that will come to India as well. However, it seems that FIAT India has decided to design and develop an all new city car that will be specific to the Indian market.
“It will be an all-new car, nothing to do with any of our other models and will be priced aggressively. It will compete with the Alto and will have a one-litre engine,” Rajeev Kapoor, MD, Fiat India told Economic Times. “The Uno brand has become rather generic in nature. We are still figuring out a new brand name for the car,” he added. “The new car will be an India-specific one, made in India, made for India, keeping in mind the country’s unique terrain and temperatures. Our R&D team is working day in and day out to develop the car that meets consumers’ needs in the best manner,” he added further.
Artist impression by Automedia of the 2011 Fiat Toplino
A few weeks back we told you that FIAT is also planning on bringing in the Uno for India. However, looking at the statements and plans aforementioned by Mr. Kapoor, we won’t be surprised if the new small car he is talking about is a car based on the 2011 Uno platform. The current Uno not only has a 1.0-litre petrol engine in its arsenal, the platform is also developed keeping in mind the nature of markets like Brazil and Argentina, which to an extent are closer to the Indian scenario.
The under-development Topolino city car on the other hand is a compact car with a two-door architecture, which is something that won’t go down well with the India consumer. However, should they consider developing a variant of the Topolino for India, FIAT will benefit from the technical know-how from their joint venture partners and producer of the Nano, TATA Motors. Keep watching this space as we bring you more information on the small car development from FIAT.