Fiat India inks fresh deals

Fiat India Automobiles, an equally-owned joint venture between Fiat and Tata Motors, signed fresh agreements with its Indian parent and Maruti Suzuki to supply 2.2 lakh diesel engines over a three-year period, several people in the know said. Maruti Suzuki, which has been sourcing 1.3-litre multijet engines from Fiat India, will buy 1.5 lakh more units of the same engine that powers its popular models such as Swift, Dzire, Ignis, Ciaz and Vitara Brezza. Tata Motors’ deal is to source 70,000 units of 2-litre multijet engines for the SUVs it is developing on a Land Rover platform. The company had previously sourced diesel engines from the JV for some vehicles, but now makes its own for the existing models. Fiat India will invest several hundred crores at its Ranjangaon plant near Pune to ramp up engine production, the people said.