Jeep will soon be introducing its BS VI-compliant diesel engines for India, beginning with the Compass Trailhawk variant. On the sidelines of the Jeep Compass Trailhawk media drive, Auto Tech Review caught up with Kevin Flynn, President & Managing Director, FCA India, to understand its perspective on the future of diesel engines, emission compliance technology and the way forward for the Jeep brand in India.
Kevin Flynn is currently serving as the President and Managing Director of FCA India Automobiles Private Limited. In his current role, the 60-year-old industry veteran is responsible for settingup and managing commercial operations of the Jeep brand. Flynn took up this role four years back and can be credited for successfully bringing to the market iconic Jeep SUVs such as the Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee SRT and the Wrangler. Under his leadership, FCA received the most number of awards for its SUV Jeep Compass in 2017-18. Prior to joining FCA India, he was the Managing Director of Jaguar Land Rover, South Africa & Sub Sahara Africa region. Flynn had also previously worked for Lexus, Porsche, BMW, VW, Audi and Lamborghini. He is a British national, residing in India and his family has settled in South Africa. Flynn has a penchant for motorsports, rugby, tennis and motorcycling and also plays golf during his free time.
The automotive industry is witnessing many disruptions both at a local and global level. What’s your take on the mobility of the future?
At the moment, the disruptions within the Indian automotive industry are slowing down. As a car company we are certainly keen to now start seeing a turnaround. The Indian market is huge and it is always going to provide an opportunity to automotive companies to further their growth. There are a lot of players in India and there are more foraying into the market with high expectations, but at the moment the market is going through a recession phase, in terms of sales. Having said that we are pleased with the way FCA has been able to maintain its market position in the segment we compete in. With the country’s general elections over people now have a sense of what the next few years are going to look like. I’m hoping for an upturn in the second half of 2019.
This story is from the July 2019 edition of Auto Tech Review.
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This story is from the July 2019 edition of Auto Tech Review.
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