FCA India head: Fiat spare parts should not be a concern

With the last of the Fiats going off the shelves in India, there has been a concern among existing owners regarding the availability of parts in the future. Touching on the topic in his #LivewithAutocar session on Instagram, Partha Dutta, president and MD, FCA India said, “the Punto and Linea spare parts can be expected to be available for the next decade.” For perspective, the long-serving Fiat models went on sale in India in 2009. 

Expanding on the matter, Dutta stated that FCA has arranged for all parts required for these models via its Mopar brand and has activated a parts distribution centre at Chakan. “I think with Mopar and Fiat, nobody should have any form of concern. We are here and we just invested in a very large parts distribution centre in Chakan. The Mopar team is extremely active, the aftersales team is extremely active, so every Fiat customer can rest assured that we’re here for their aftersales service and we’re going to be here for them”, Dutta said. The company currently has 80 Mopar touchpoints in India that includes Jeep outlets where existing Fiat owners can have their vehicles serviced and also order parts that might be required.

Fiat stopped production of the Linea sedan, the Punto Evo hatchback and its derivatives in early 2019, ahead of the roll-out of multiple safety regulations over the year. Fiat sold all of 125 cars in India in FY20. The implementation of the new BS6 emission norms on April 1, 2020, meant that any remaining stock is ineligible for sale, proving to be the final nail in the coffin for Fiat’s line-up. Apart from the cars, Fiat’s 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine, which powered a whole host of models from different manufacturers, was also dropped from production in the run up to BS6 sales.   

FCA might de facto be survived by the Jeep brand in India, but Dutta did assert Fiat isn’t gone. “We have not discontinued the Fiat brand. The Fiat brand continues to be an important part of the FCA portfolio. Today, the demand in the market is SUV; it’s the fastest growing segment, it’s the fastest, most demanded body style and that is the architecture that everybody is looking for in India. I mean, anyone you know wants an SUV. Here we are, a company with the most pre-eminent SUV brand in the world and what we’re trying to do is meet and cater to that customer demand. So, Fiat continues to be an important part of the FCA portfolio; we’re not saying that the brand has exited the market. We are simply focusing on Jeep to meet what our customers are demanding today.” Dutta said. 

Jeep has seen a drop in sales in India over the past year but has plans to expand its line-up, starting with the Compass facelift that is expected to go on sale in early 2021.