Linea to head Fiat's Aussie charge

A sub-$20,000 sedan made in India is expected to arrive in Australia in the first half of 2014 to crown a massive pricing and value attack for Fiat and its Italian Alfa Romeo stablemate.

The Linea, which is roughly Ford Focus-sized, will be an important part of the repositioning of Fiat in Australia, a process which begins next month when a range of price and model adjustments will be announced for both it and Alfa.

Before the end of 2013 both Fiat and Alfa, which are now both distributed in Australia via a factory-owned subsidiary, Fiat Chrysler Group Australia, will have been repositioned with volume sales targets and pricing.

Although it won’t offer cutting-edge technology, the Linea’s Indian sourcing will allow FCGA to set aggressive pricing in the nation’s largest new-car segment at a time when the Nissan Pulsar and Toyota Corolla are lobbing for $19,990.

“We have really got to target sub-$20,000,” FCGA Managing Director Clyde Campbell said. “But we will finalise the plan in the third quarter of 2003.”

Other highlights of the FCGA’s strategy for Fiat and Alfa will include a starting price for the funky Fiat 500 below $20,000 and well below $30,000 for the Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

The Fiat Grand Punto hatchback will also be reintroduced to Australia in 2013, while the Fiat Panda will be imported for the first time and the Dodge Journey-based Fiat Freemont is also due before the long-wheelbase 500L arrives in early 2014.

The re-positioning, which was exclusively reported by motoring.com.au back in October, is intended to drive massive sales growth for both brands, helping boost overall sales for the Fiat Chrysler Group Australia – which also includes Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep – from about 23,700 in 2012 to more than 30,000 in 2013.

The sales drive is being supported by the addition of around 30 dealers to the network from February 1. Fiat limped to just 1432 sales in 2012, while Alfa managed a paltry 906.

Originally launched in 2007 as a world car for developing markets, the Linea will go through a major refresh before it arrives in Australia from Fiat’s freshly refurbished Ranjangaon plan in Pune. Later, Australia could also get the Grande Punto from the same site, but not before 2015.

The Linea is more than 4.5 metres long and is offered with a variety of petrol and turbo-diesel four-cylinder engines, depending on where it is sold. Transmissions are five and six-speed manual and five-speed semi-auto, the latter definite for Australia.

FCGA has turned to the Linea and Indian production because it is the only way it can gain access to a right-hand drive small car. The more modern Fiat Viaggio, which is built in China and based on the Dodge Dart, is only built in left-hand drive and all production is swallowed up locally anyway.

“There is capacity in the Indian plant and they are already building Linea in right-hand drive,” explained Mr Campbell. “We just require a slightly higher specification of vehicle.

“Our onboard diagnostics are tougher and different to what they use in India. We have got some other regulatory requirements such as stability control they don’t have in India. And we want to make sure anchor points are to ADR requirements which they don’t have to be in India.

“There is nothing wrong with the build quality (of the Linea),” he added. “I have gone over and driven the cars and I am quite happy with what they are producing.”

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