How the Jeep came to be manufactured in India
Mark T Allen, director of Jeep’s famed design studio, had not even in his wildest dreams thought about launching Jeep India.
That was perhaps because Indians weren’t known to do a lot of off-roading, something the iconic Jeep model is known for.
So, five years ago, when he and his team of designers were tasked with designing Compass, a sports utility vehicle for emerging markets, they had no clue that India would end up not just as one of the four manufacturing sites for Compass, but as the export base for all right-hand drive models.
“We did not know anything about it. Just five years ago, every Jeep that we made was made in the US,” Allen said in an interview. Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of the Tata group and an out-and-out automobiles man, may have had something to do with it according to Allen.
“There is a real warm relationship between Mr Ratan Tata and our chairman (Fiat Chrysler chairman Sergio Marchionne). That’s probably how it happened. That’s probably the genesis of how we ended up by doing this car in India.”
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV owns brands including Alfa Romeo, Dodge and Jeep.
His colleague and managing director of Fiat Chrysler’s India operations, Kevin Flynn, has a more mundane explanation.
“The idea of building a Jeep in India was something that the company had already embarked on before I came to India two and a half years ago and undoubtedly the influence of Mike Manley and his role as global head of Jeep and RAM Trucks... his engagement with India was immense,” Flynn said.
Credited with the success of the Jeep brand, which is growing faster than other group brands such as Fiat or Alfa Romeo globally, Mike Manley is widely seen as the successor to Marchionne. India, touted to become the world’s third largest passenger vehicle market in a decade, is a crucial frontier for Manley before he assumes a larger role at the group.
The move to set up an export hub in India and that too for Jeep models (some such as Renegade are expected in 2018) signals Fiat’s renewed interest in the Indian market, where it has met with little success despite a long association. After having sold its popular models such as Uno and Fiat 1100 or Padmini through a licensing agreement with Premier Automobile Ltd, Fiat set up its Indian subsidiary in 1997. In 2006, it signed an agreement with Tata Motors Ltd to jointly manufacture and sell cars in India. However, in 2012, it decided to call off the alliance and embarked on a solo journey.
The immediate requirement is not to make an Indian car for export but to make a global car in India for export and the local market, Flynn said.
The process to achieve those objectives started four years ago. Back in May 2013, Mint reported that senior officials of the group met component vendors to explore the possibility of setting up a manufacturing base in the country. The vendors were told that Turin-based Fiat was looking to reinforce its manufacturing facilities for its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands.
Such deliberations are required. High-end cars require expensive and top notch technologies such as hot-stamping and laser welding. All of that is now being done in India, Flynn claimed.
Intel India, the US-based chip design company, on Wednesday announced that it will invest ₹1,100 crore to expand its research and development centre in Bengaluru, making it the largest such centre outside the US. The new facility is part of the chip maker’s efforts to consolidate its operations in one campus.
“Intel India plays a very strategic role in Intel’s growth, with significant contributions to Intel’s technology and product leadership,” Nivruti Rai, Intel India general manager, vicepresident of data group at Intel, said in a statement on Wednesday. The latest investment will be in addition to the ₹28,000 crore the tech major has invested since 1999.
The 620,000 sq. ft feet new facility, including lab capacity, will be part of Intel’s existing 44-acre campus in Bengaluru.
Rai said the new facility would be completed in about 13 months.
The “smart and green” building will be constructed using “One storey High Technology” with each floor being built on the ground which is then lifted and attached to the top of the building and then built from the roof downwards.
The company said that the new technology would reduce construction time by around 30% when compared to traditional practices.