FCA Invests USD 150 Million To Set Up Its Global Digital Hub In Hyderabad

The new facility will be tasked with transforming FCA’s digital presence in all aspects

The Fiat Chrysler Automobile (FCA) Group has only one brand that’s fully active in India at the moment - Jeep. They also provide engines for other carmakers here, with both car and powertrain manufacturing taking place at the Ranjangaon plant near Pune. The automotive conglomerate has now announced a USD 150 million investment for setting up its global digital hub in Hyderabad.

The digital hub will be an integrated part of the global FCA team and is intended to serve as the group’s ‘transformation and innovation engine’ for the global IT strategy. “One of the key objectives of FCA ICT India is to digitise every aspect of FCA’s automotive operations globally and within India, and to shift from legacy to digital through the adoption of emerging technologies. We are fostering a strong, global culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to promote agility at scale, and drive customer-centricity,” said Mamatha Chamarthi, CIO, FCA, North America and Asia-Pacific.

New technologies in focus will include connected car services, automation, autonomous driving technology and further developing the digital showroom experience. The significance of the latter was highlighted by the events of the pandemic wherein all carmakers had to revamp their digital platforms for sales and service in a socially distanced environment.

The new facility, which has been dubbed FCA ICT India, is said to generate nearly 1,000 new jobs by the end of 2021 with plans to expand further over the next couple of years. It will be headed by Karim Lalani. The Digital Hub will seek to expand the brand’s relationships with various ecosystem partners. That includes working closely with the Telangana state’s universities, start-ups, and other strategic partners. FCA is also working to expand its engineering centre in Chennai.

Speaking about the development, Dr. Partha Dutta, President and MD, FCA India, said, “FCA ICT India will be our technology backbone that will not only help us develop products for future mobility but will also sharpen our efforts to enhance customer-centricity. This is a significant step forward in realising our vision to make our Indian operations more capable to develop digitally driven products and technologies locally for India and also for the world.”

While the Fiat brand is dormant in India, Jeep is expected to soon launch a slew of products in India, starting with the Jeep Compass facelift which should reach showrooms by early-2021.