Fiat India chief Nagesh Basavanhalli steps down

Nagesh Basavanhalli, who joined the Indian subsidiary of the Fiat Chrysler LLC in April last year, has now stepped down from his position. He was appointed as the Managing Director (MD) and President for Fiat India, in an effort to re-establish and streamline the firm's operations post its break-out with the home grown auto major- Tata Motors Ltd. 

Regarding this issue, a company spokesperson familiar with the development, said “As an expatriate, he is serving the third year of his three-year term. Normally, expatriate postings are for a period of up to three years. There are, however, no hard and fast rules. He has been in India since 2007.”

Before this, he was the chief for Chrysler India Automobiles Pvt. Ltd and was responsible for Fiat and Chrysler’s APAC (Asia-Pacific) Technical Centre located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Despite its successful engine manufacturing operations, the Italian manufacturer has been struggling in the country to sell products. The refreshment of its current product line-up as well as launching new vehicles, is a part of company's effort to get things rolling. Apart from these, the Italian car manufacturer will bring its premium SUV brand- Jeep and performance-oriented Abarth brand in India.

If reports are to be believed, then, Pablo Rosso, the current head of Fiat Chrysler in South Korea, will be replacing Basavanhalli and taking over as the interim head of Fiat Chrysler India from coming year.