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Ind Auto to cut waiting period for Fiat Uno to one week

Ind Auto Limited is working towards reducing the waiting period for its Uno from the present 6-8 weeks to one week by the end of May 1999.

The company has already sorted out the problems of imported components and is hiking production at its Kurla plant in Maharashtra. ''We expect to cut down the waiting period for particular Uno models to one week by the end of May,'' Gianni Ravina, executive director of Ind Auto, a joint venture between Fiat and Premier Automobiles Limited.

Uno demand had spurted following a massive price cut announced by the company in January this year. With the company not being able to meet the increased demand, certain variants of the car were available on an eight-week long waiting period. This has resulted in a Rs 35,000 - Rs 40,000 premium for the car in the blackmarket.

''We had some problems in meeting the sudden increased demand in February and March. But now, we have almost solved these problems and are now hiking production to 80 cars per day from 50 per day in January. Demand is still a little higher but we are trying to meet it...We are trying and are confident of bringing down the waiting period for the Uno,'' he added.

''Our customer should not wait for more than a week to get the delivery of his car,'' Ravina said. He is also managing director of Fiat India Automobiles Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fiat SPA.

The company, he said, is not in favour of promoting the blackmarket premium on its models. Towards this end, FIAL has introduced a unique purchase scheme for its world car -- Siena, which would hit the streets in May this year.

Fiat India has decided to bypass the booking route entirely and has put in place a dealer direct purchase programme driven by customer interface.

''Our customers can enter into an immediate contract with our dealerships, guaranteeing the delivery of their cars at the contracted price and stipulated time.'' Under this, a dealer has been allotted a quota which will be made available in three months' time. He will accept customer orders only so far as he remains within the quota limit. If enquiries are received thereafter, no fresh orders would be booked.

The Kurla plant, Ravina said, has a capacity to produce 50-60,000 cars per annum. ''But due to some technical constraints, we would be able to produce only 25-26,000 cars in 1999. However, our forecast for next year is to produce more than 45,000 cars and achieve optimum utilisation in 2001.''

UNI

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