Fiat India says that the company is now looking at multiple fuel options for its product range. The Italian carmaker has already put in place a plan for production of three lakh engines, of which diesel alone will account for two lakh units and petrol engines the remaining one lakh. Next on the agenda is the strategy successfully experimented in Latin America, which banks on providing multiple fuel options such as compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and ethanol-blended gasoline in its models. “With a little modification, we can produce CNG engines in our petrol engine lines. This is something that we have in mind,” said Mr Mauro Mollo, Powertrain Division Head, FIat India.
Fiat produces CNG engines in parts of Europe and Latin America. In 2006, its Brazilian arm launched the Fiat Siena Tetra Fuel, which operates on CNG, ethanol, gasoline and ethanol-blended gasoline. Fiat produced 50,000 natural gas-fuelled vehicles in Italy last calendar year. In India, Fiat will kick start its green models with the launch of Palio in 2009.
Mr Rajeev Kapur, CEO, FIAL, said “Company would launch a CNG version of the Palio in 2009. This initiative is in line with the Indian automotive industry’s move to shift to environment-friendly fuels, which promise less operating cost and lower emissions. For instance, Indica, Santro, Wagon R, Ikon and Marina have both CNG and LPG options.”
Fiat has also drawn up an export agenda for cars produced in India as part of its efforts to optimize the production base in terms of costs and capacity utilization. Mr Kapur said 800 units were targeted for this fiscal. This could include the Linea, which recently rolled out of the Ranjangaon plant near Pune. The company had begun exporting the Palio to South Africa and efforts are underway to target all right-hand drive markets spread across Asia. Nepal and Sri Lanka are on the immediate radar.