May finalise deal with Fiat in 2 mths

Maruti Suzuki India is expecting to finalise a deal with Fiat to source diesel engines in the next two months,which is likely to help it in increasing the production of its popular compact car Swift.

We are in discussion with Fiat for sourcing of diesel engines from their Ranjangaon plant. In fact,we are in fairly advanced stage and in two months time,we should see something on this, Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Chairman R C Bhargava said.

He said the deal with Fiat is being worked out considering the fact that the companys main supplier Suzuki Powertrain India Ltd (SPIL) has reached its peak production capacity at the Manesar plant. SPIL has a capacity of 25,000 units per month. It has attained the peak,so we are looking at Fiat, he said.

Bhargava said once the deal is finalised,MSIs Swift production will go up to about 20,000 units a month. Before the labour strike this month,the company was making about 18,000 units of Swift a month. By January 2012,the production of Swift should go up to about 20,000 units per month. This has factored the engine supply that will come from Fiat, he said.