Fiat India Automobiles has renewed its agreements with Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki to supply 2.2 lakh diesel engines over a period of three years but contrary to reports, the bulk of the engines will still be the 1.3 Multijet as opposed to the 2-litre diesel engine which made its debut on the new Jeep Compass. While our sources at Tata Motors have confirmed that the agreement will be renewed soon, they also said that the company is in talks with Fiat India to source the bigger 2-litre engine for its cars. However, we received no such comments from Maruti Suzuki.
We had told you earlier that Fiat has plans to source the powerful 2-litre diesel engine to other manufacturers and had also said that an announcement will soon be made in this regard but clearly there's a lot yet to be discussed with this regards. The 2-litre diesel mill is all-new and will be produced at the company's Ranjangaon facility and is likely to be the mainstay motor for the company in India apart from being exported overseas and will be witnessing a lot of demand.
Fiat has already found success with the 1.3-litre MultiJet engine that is used on a range of cars in the country. The unit has turned out to be extremely popular for carmakers, and extremely profitable for Fiat India and the 2-litre diesel might also turn out to be a popular pick. On the Jeep Compass, The 2-litre four-cylinder unit will make over 170 bhp and 350 Nm of torque. However, other manufacturers will calibrate the engine's power output depending on the requirement - fuel efficiency or performance.
Tata Motors might source 70,000 of the 2-litre multijet engine for its SUV, no not the Nexon. The details of the engine on the Nexon are already out and we've told you all about it. Fiat's highly popular 1.3 MultiJet diesel is certainly one of the most likeable units available. Carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and General Motors source the diesel motor and it has been used to power a number of cars including the Maruti Suzuki Swift, Swift Dzire, Ignis, Ciaz, S-Cross and Vitara Brezza. Tata uses the mill on the Bolt and Zest, while GM uses it on the Sail hatchback and sedan. A 1-litre derivative of the motor is also found on the Chevrolet Beat diesel.
Fiat India's Ranjangoan which currently produces Fiat's Linea and Punto, and Tata's Zest and Bolt, will soon be running to more than full capacity as the production of the Jeep Compass begins in June while Tata's Nexon will also be produced here.
