Life Automobiles has three showrooms in the country, one each in Gairidhara, Kathmandu, Pokhara and Butwal. It plans to open five new outlets in Thapathali, Kathmandu, Birgunj, Narayangadh, Biratnagar and Nepalgunj within this year.

 “Fiat had not been able to increase its market share in Nepal due to the lack of strong sales and service network, but now our main focus will be on dealership network expansion,” said Ananda Raj Batas, chairman of Life Automobiles.

“As Pokhara is the second largest market after the Kathmandu valley for vehicles, we will now run the Pokhara showroom as branch of Life Automobiles.”

The company is also opening “Fiat Café” on the premises of its Gairidhara outlet, which will offer a blend of coffee for the customers. “Our main showroom will be the best and talk-of-the-town showroom in which will offer the best service with extra features,” he said.  

Batas said the company will introduce the new Fiat Punto Evo premium hatchback and the New Linea sedan during the NADA Auto Show, which is slated to begin from September 3 in Kathmandu. The company also plans to bring in the Fiat Aventura SUV by mid-November.

The Punto Evo comes with a blend of sporty look and latest technology, and has the highest ground clearance.

The vehicle has 195mm ground clearance. It will be available in four variants — the Punto Evo Active, Punto Evo Dynamic, Punto Evo Emotion and Punto Evo Sport 93 PS.

The car features “Follow-Me-Headlamps”, 16- inch alloy wheels, multi-jet engines and smart-key window, among others. Available in both petrol and diesel variants, the company claims the diesel variant offers a mileage of 21.2kmpl, while its petrol sibling runs 15.8kmpl.

The New Fiat Linea comes with redesigned exterior, including new grille and bumper package, new wheels and slightly redesigned boot lid, among others.

The Aventura, which was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Show 2014 as a pre-production concept car based on the Punto platform, will compete with the Ford Ecosport in the domestic market.

“With the launch of these three vehicles, we hope to increase our market share to 10 percent from less than 5 percent currently,” said Batas. “We have great expectations on Aventura and we aim to sell 500 units a year.”

The Italian brand enjoys a significant market share in Brazil, apart from Italy, according to Life Automobiles. The carmaker has manufacturing units in Argentina and Poland and a long history of licensing production in other countries.

The nine-time European Car of The Year award winner has numerous alliances and joint ventures around the world, including in Italy, France, Turkey, Serbia, India and China, the company said.