FCA, Tata Expanding Indian SUV Production Capacity

MUMBAI – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Indian automaker Tata will invest Rs30 billion  ($469 million) in a dedicated premium-SUV production line at the Ranjangaon, India, plant jointly owned by Fiat and Tata. The new line raises the plant’s capacity to 260,000 units.

Initial products to be assembled from kits on the 100,000-unit-capacity line are 5- and 7-seat SUVs being developed jointly by Tata and its Jaguar and Land Rover subsidiaries. Codenamed Q501 and Q502, the vehicles are due on the market in 2017.  

Before these premium SUVs are introduced, Tata will launch four other utility vehicles in 2016: a premium CUV to be called either the Eagle or Hexa; two unnamed SUVs, each less than 157.5 ins. (4,000 mm) in length; and the Raptor, an SUV engineered for rural areas.

These four utility vehicles will be built using existing capacity at the Ranjangaon plant, which currently produces the Bolt hatchback and Zest sedan. The plant’s current capacity is 160,000 cars and 350,000 engines annually.

The plant will produce Fiat-designed 2.0L turbodiesel engines for the two premium SUVs. The other upcoming models will use either Fiat-designed 1.3L diesel or 1.4L gasoline engines already in production at Ranjangaon.

Fiat currently supplies the 1.3L diesel to Maruti Suzuki for the No.1 Indian automaker’s Ciaz sedan and 1.6L gasoline engines for other models. Under a recent agreement Fiat will supply 1.6L diesels to Maruti for its new S-Cross while Maruti develops its own 1.5L diesel for future S-Cross models.