Fiat cuts Linea T-Jet's price to tap growing demand for petrol cars

Mumbai, June 10, 2013: Fiat has revamped its pricing for the 114bhp Linea T-Jet saloon, which comes with a turbocharged petrol engine, to tap the growing demand for petrol cars. The model, which was earlier available only in a fully loaded version, now costs Rs. 8.8 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi) as compared to Rs 10 lakh earlier. The company has also added two variants below this model with the entry level variant priced at Rs 7.6 lakh (ex-showroom, New Delhi).

Fiat's new strategy is based on its renewed focus on the petrol car market in India. The overall petrol:diesel car sales ratio now stands at 50:50, compared to 80:20 in favour of diesel about a year ago. In the upper C-segment, where the Linea falls, the petrol:diesel ratio stands at 49:51 now, according to Fiat.

With the repositioning of the Linea T-Jet, Fiat Group Automobiles India may be looking at replacing the non-turbo petrol engine portfolio with the turbocharged engine.

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Photograph: Nagesh Basavanhalli, president and managing director, Fiat Chrysler Operations India, at the launch of the Linea T-Jet 2013 in Mumbai.