Fiat Chrysler to invest $250M in India unit, launch 3-Row SUV & New Jeep Compass in 2 yrs

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) is looking to grow its presence in India, with a whopping investment of $250 million in launching four new sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) under its Jeep brand in the next two years. Making the announcement on Tuesday, FCA said that the investment will be used to locally manufacture a mid-size, three-row SUV, the Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee vehicles in India and also launch a new version of its Jeep Compass SUV. 

Partha Datta, managing director for FCA India said that the multi-million-dollar investment will give the leading automaker a competitive edge in multiple segments as it is determined to increase locally-manufactured components in its vehicles.

FCA currently has less than a 1% share of India’s passenger vehicle market and adding new vehicles to its portfolio can help in increasing local sourcing of components, achieve better economies of scale, reduce costing and boost sales.

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India's domestic market suffers a slowdown

The investment comes at a time when automakers around the world have been battered by the pandemic, and those in India have been further hit with the domestic market slowing down since 2019. 

Japan’s Honda Motor Co has been forced to shut down one of its two plants in the country, and General Motors has stopped producing cars in India for export after halting domestic sales in 2017. The Indian market has also witnessed the entry of new automakers over the last couple of years including South Korea’s Kia Motors and China’s SAIC Motor Corp.

FCA will produce and assemble the new SUVs at its car plant in western India, which it jointly owns with Indian automaker Tata Motors. FCA’s three-row SUV is expected to compete with Ford Motor’s Endeavour and Toyota Motor’s Fortuner SUVs. The latest round takes FCA’s total investment in India to over $700 million, including $150 million in a new global tech centre.

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