Fiat India expects to conclude the ongoing discussions with Maruti Suzuki regarding the supply of diesel engines following which Maruti Suzuki will be able to clear the waiting period of for its Swift Diesel version. After the go-ahead from Tata Motors in December 2011, Fiat India which is a 50:50 joint venture between Italy’s Fiat and India’s Tata Motors will start manufacturing diesel engines for Maruti Suzuki from January 2012.
According to Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, Fiat India‘s Chief Executive and President, all commercial decisions will be taken with consent of the board as a whole which will include members of Tata Motors. He dismisses the idea of any objection from Tata Motors on account of supplying diesel engines to a rival automobile manufacturer.
Fiat India at its facility at Ranjangaon has the capacity to manufacture 3,00,000 diesel and petrol engines. While it plans to supply diesel engines to Maruti Suzuki, it also supplies the same engine to Tata Motors for the Grande Punto hatchback and the Linea sedan.