Fiat India plans CNG variant of Palio by 2009

NEW DELHI: In a bid to grab larger market share, car manufacturer Fiat India plans to launch the CNG variant of its bread and butter model Palio in the country by early next year.

"We will launch the CNG variant of the Palio by early next year," said Fiat India President and CEO Rajeev Kapoor on Wednesday. The car is currently available in both petrol and diesel variants.

The company has also planned a slew of car launches in the next 12 months starting with the introduction of '500' next month.

It will unveil 'Linea' in September and 'Grande Punto' early next year. The 'Grande Punto' will come with a "price differential" than the existing cars in its segment.

"The 'Grande Punto' is a bigger car than others in its segment so there will be a price differential," Kapoor said. However, he declined to give further details about the pricing of the car.

Other cars in that segment currently are Maruti's Swift, Hyundai's Getz and GM's U-VA. The base model of Swift is around Rs 4 lakh ex-showroom in Delhi.

While '500' would be imported as completely built units from Italy, 'Linea' and 'Grande Punto' would be manufactured in the company's Ranjangaon facility in Maharashtra.