Company officials indicate the Siena will compete with the Maruti Esteem. The price will be announced later, they say.

Both the Siena and Palio are part of the world car series -- a family of vehicles to meet customer demands world-wide -- that include five vehicles sharing the same platform.

The Palio is fitted with a 1,242cc petrol engine and has a maximum power of 72 bhp.

While the diesel Siena is powered with a 1,698cc four-cylinder turbo engine and delivers 64 bhp at 4,500 rpm, the petrol car has a 1,242cc multi-point fuel injection engine, delivering 72 bhp at 6,000 rpm.

The diesel car will have a mileage of 27 km per litre and the petrol variant around 21 km per litre under test conditions.

Fiat Auto's wholly-owned subsidiary Fiat India Automobiles hopes to capture amarket share of 7-8 per cent in the passenger-car segment, managing director Gianni Ravina said.

The Italian auto giant has set a target of 15 per cent in the mid-size segment for the Siena. Both the cars along with the Fiat Uno will be manufactured at the Kurla plant of Ind Auto, its joint venture with the Doshis, till 2000. Fiat India's Ranjangaon plant will handle the production of the world car series from 2000.

Ind Auto, in which Fiat Auto has a 51 per cent stake, manufactures the small car Uno.

Fiat India has set a modest target of selling 10,000 units of both the Siena and Palio next year, of which a majority will be the mid-size car. Around 20,000 units of the Uno will be manufactured. Fiat India expects to break even in three years after the launch.

Siena and Palio will be introduced in both the deluxe and standard versions, with an air-conditioner and heater as standard features, Ravina said. The EL version offers a climate-control system, body-coloured bumpers, heated rear window, frontand rear seat-belts, door mirrors adjustable from inside, and a luggage compartment opening from inside. The diesel version also includes power steering.

The ELX version offers radio, electric front and rear windows, door lock, foglight, third brake light and power steering as standard features even in the 1,200cc petrol version.

Fiat India has pumped in Rs 200 crore in the Kurla plant, Ravina said.

Both the cars will achieve an indigenisation level of 35 per cent in the first year of production, which will go up to 65 per cent in the second year, and finally over 75 per cent.

This localisation pattern will be followed for the entire world car project that includes a van, station wagon, and a pick-up.

Terming India as the "most important Asian market", Ravina said the company would also export its products to other markets.

Forty-five dealers will be in place by the year end, and by next year, the network will be expanded to 70.