Fiat set to double Indian sourced components in 2010
September 4, 2009 by Matt Brogan
Fiat’s purchasing division has today announced it plans to source US$1 billion of parts from India next year, effectively doubling the amount of components it sources from the sub-continent.
The group said 70 per cent of the parts sourced will be used in Fiat India Automobiles, the company’s joint venture with Tata Motors, while the remainder will be for export.
“Our target is to source $1 billion in 2010,” said Mr Franco Cavallotti, Vice President of Fiat Group Purchasing. “That would be about 5 per cent of Fiat’s global sourcing.”
Fiat Group Purchasing is the company that manages purchasing for the entire Fiat group.
Print it: 
the Fiat Linea Sedan pictured here looks nice!
Indian sourced parts.. a negative implication for Fiat’s quality. Many Japanese and German makers source their parts from Thailand, South Africa and the likes and i belive that s a negative impact on the quality of their vehecles. Mazda’s sales remain strong despite an economic downturn like now because most of their cars are still Japanese-built (ie. outstanding build quality and finishing).
Outsourcing components maybe cost-efficient for short-term but I m not sure about it s long-term implication for quality and in turn for their sales.
Perceptions, perception, perceptions.
Parts sourcing is now a global exercise not just in autos. As long as the quality assurance and testing mechanisms are in place to screen the parts, it comes down to the integrity of the overall design not just of the vehicle, but of the parts that go to make up the whole. Design tolerances need to be engineered to allow high quality manufacturing with reproducbilty, regardless of where they are made. ISO standards are just as much a part of Indian manufacturing rigour as they are anywhere else.
With respect to Fiat outsourcing to Fiat-Tata India, the engineering & manufacturing capability of this conglomerate, would surpass many Australian and other companies.
Parts failure will occur no matter what the country of origin – eg, a Bosch MAF made in Germany is just as likely to fail as one made in India or Brazil.
Not all Mazda’s inventory is produced in Japan and their success has more to do with meeting the market equation of design, packaging and price.
I think nothing is wrong with Indian sourcing as long as Fiat keeps good quality control. I found Made in China products from IKEA are pretty descent. However, I don’t feel like Fiat and reliability don’t go together.
So What…VW has been building cars in china and Mexico for decades and Audi will start production soon as well.
Sourcing some minor components hava a lot less implications to quality than actually building the entire car.
A manufacturer can reject a poor component but you cant reject an entirely built car.
Fiat is the largest car manufacturer in Italy – they own Ferrari Maserati and Alfa -Romeo [among others].. so I wonder how customers of their more exclusive brands would feel knowing that the leather [for example] is from Madrid instead of Milan?
It’s a long time since Alfa Romeo made anything in Milan and the last of it’s association is being currently being moved to Turin .
http://www.italiaspeed.com/200...../1706.html
In reality Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (ALFA) has now become Anonima Piedmontese Fabbrica Automobili (APFA) Romeo
So after all those GM components stuck in Current FIAT Alfa Romeos, a few Indian parts will not make much difference….
Audi A4’s are built in China and soon the Q5 will also be built there … not just part sourced!
Its all about quality control of the individual company….
I do not think the Chinese A4 is for anywhere outside China.
Thats a great news. :-)
It’s a viscous circle. Customer demands better value with more and more brands coming onto the market of course manufactures are going to look at keeping productions costs down. I can not see any car manufacturer deliberately damaging their brand by using inferior parts.