NEW DELHI, SEPT 1: Fiat India Automobiles Ltd (FIAL) will introduce a station wagon version of its mid-luxury car - Fiat Siena - in the first quarter of the next calendar year. This will be the first station wagon to be launched in the country.Meanwhile, Fiat Palio, which will cost Rs 4-5 lakh, will now be launched by the end of this calendar year, FIAL managing director, Gianni Ravina, told newspersons here. The company is still considering whether to launch the Palio hatchback or Palio Weekend Station Wagon first. ``We are still working on which of the two versions to launch first. We will take a decision soon and make an official statement on that by the end of September,'' Ravina said. He also mentioned that the ``decision is likely to waiver in the favour of Palio Weekend''. According to Ravina, station wagons are a niche segment and are likely to generate a more positive response as compared to hatchbacks. In such a situation, the hatchback version of the Palio will be launched in the first quarterof the next calendar year.According to a official, the launch of the Palio, the other car of Fiat SpA's World Car Project - codenamed Project 178 - has been delayed because of capacity problems and the Euro-norms imbroglio. Moreover, the company wanted to launch Palio around the same time as Ford Ikon and Opel Corsa so that their competitors could not get an edge over them. The exact price tag of this car is still not known, but is likely to be in the region of Rs 4.5 to Rs 5 lakh.FIAL has pledged US $ 1 billion investment in India over the next five years for varied activities. The company plans to have a local content of 70 per cent in the Fiat Palio at the time of launch.Telco rolls out new version of SumoMUMBAI: Telco has launched a stripped version of its multi-utility vehicle Sumo to strengthen its market share. The stripped version will cost Rs 70,000 lesser than Rs 4.38 lakh for an ordinary Sumo model.Meanwhile, the company's cumulative sales of its small car Indica touched18,407 vehicles with 4,537 vehicles being sold in August, 1999. The sales performance has helped Indica acquire a market share of 6.5 per cent of the passenger car market for April-July period, a company statement says.Indica sales for the first five months of 1999-2000 reached 16,241 having grown from 1,676 cars in April to 4,537 in August.TELCO also closed the month of August with a sale of over 2,600 vehicles in the utility vehicle and other segments of the domestic car market against a sale of 2,172 vehicles in July, registered a total sale of over 7,000 vehicles from its passenger car operations.
