Italian car maker Fiat SpA, which has finalised a blueprint to bring sports utility vehicles to India from the Chrysler portfolio to rev up volumes, is now considering opportunities to enter the fast-growing light commercial vehicle segment in the Indian market.
"We are studying opportunities in the LCV segment.
"A final decision has not been made yet, but we are looking at how to bring products from Fiat Professional at competitive price points to the Indian market," said Enrico Atanasio, managing director, Fiat Group Automobiles India Pvt Ltd.
While the slowdown in the domestic economy and a ban on mining has sharply impacted the demand for medium and heavy commercial vehicles, sales of LCVs rose 15.61 per cent to 378,509 units between April and December, driven by need for products for last mile transportation.
Demand for MHCVs tanked by 19 per cent to 198,079 units in the same period.
Eyeing the opportunity, US-based car maker General Motors Co, Chinese auto maker Beiqi Foton Motor Co Ltd and French giant Renault SA have all evinced interest in entering the LCV segment in the country.
While GM is considering developing an LCV based on the platform it is using for its multi-purpose vehicle Enjoy, Beiqi Foton has announced an investment of Rs 1,676 crore (Rs 16.76 billion) to set up a facility in Maharashtra.
The facility will have an initial capacity to manufacture 100,000