Can FIAT Re-Establish Itself in India?


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@rsm
This is first time I am hearing People buys because Tata is supporting service. I always keep hearing in reverse, Tata is not able to service Fiat cars.

It is better to have a service center rather than having nothing [lol]

If you have to travel 200 kms for a service how would you feel buddy[frustration]
 
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@rsm
This is first time I am hearing People buys because Tata is supporting service. I always keep hearing in reverse, Tata is not able to service Fiat cars.
What RSM is talking is about FIAT's commitment to customers. Recall those old days with UNO & Siena when no one was there to service. However, now it is assured that FIAT has legally made a tie up with TATA for servicing its cars. This gives sort of comfort and assurance for the potential buyer, though TATA has bad people in their service centers. Since FIAT is giving training to the people directly for servicing FAIT cars, things will change in the imminent future.
 
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What RSM is talking is about FIAT's commitment to customers. Recall those old days with UNO & Siena when no one was there to service. However, now it is assured that FIAT has legally made a tie up with TATA for servicing its cars. This gives sort of comfort and assurance for the potential buyer, though TATA has bad people in their service centers. Since FIAT is giving training to the people directly for servicing FAIT cars, things will change in the imminent future.
That is a bit relief and good to hear [thumbsup]
 
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Thanks shynish for clarification.
Yes thats true, Tata is not great at service, but one can certainly find a good service center in their respective cities. It is certainly much better situation than earlier fiat services. Yes it has to go long way. Fiat's service experience will also help Tata, which is bringing more premium passanger cars.
 
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Now, Fiat India has 175 service outlets in 130 cities in India. When I bought my Linea in October 2009, 100 service outlets only were available. In some other forum, polls indicated that the percentage of owners satisfied with after sales service of Fiat products was at par with that of Maruti Suzuki, Honda Siel and Hyundai Motors.
 

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Great to know that Fiat has now driven into the profit zone!

And those who doubt whether TATA'S poor reputation of A.S.S will spoil Fiat too , as Shynish rightly pointed out Fiat trains the mechanics and SA'S directly and there are separate SA'S in a workshop to deal with Fiat alone.


But again this is new to me , i never knew that only select TATA dealers sell and service Fiat cars!
 
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Accenture is studying the Fiat's sales.

Fiat India Automobiles Ltd on Friday launched two variants of its flagship Linea sedan and said it has engaged consulting firm Accenture Plc to help improve sales and enhance visibility.

The Indian joint venture of Tata Motors Ltd and Italy’s Fiat SpA has seen sedan sales decline by 7.99% to 11,863 cars in the six months ended September, according to industry lobby group Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers. September sales dropped 35.72% to 1,650 units.

“We thought a common dealership for two very different brands is going to be easy, but the experience told us it’s not as easy as we thought,” Rajeev Kapoor, president and chief executive at Fiat India, said on Friday.

Since the Tata and Fiat brands are positioned very differently, “the dealers were living double lives”, he said.

Fiat sells the Grande Punto, Linea and Stile models in India. With the entry of new models, such as Volkswagen AG’s Polo and Vento, and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd’s Micra, among others, it has been facing rising competition.

Accenture has been studying Fiat India’s weaknesses in product, price, positioning and distribution for almost a month now, Kapoor said.

Tata Motors has been helping Fiat strengthen the dealer network. Fiat India has expanded the number of Tata-Fiat dealerships to 175, making it the largest after Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Hyundai Motor India Ltd and Tata Motors.

Kapoor said the new T-Jet premium variants of Linea will help his company reach the premium sedans segment, which sells about 10,000 cars a month, led by Honda Siel Cars India Ltd’s City model.

The variants are priced at Rs.8.84 lakh onwards (ex-showroom, Mumbai). To begin with, they will be sold in Mumbai, Pune and the Delhi-National Capital Region, which accounts for at least half of the sales for such models, Kapoor said.

Puneet Gupta, an analyst at forecasting firm CSM Worldwide, said while Fiat has good models, it hasn’t been able to address fears about after-sales service and resale.

“They shall be able to turn the tables if they come out with schemes that warrant a good return when people are trading their old Fiat cars with new ones,” said Gupta.

In August, Carl-Peter Forster, group chief executive and managing director, Tata Motors, said the company is not satisfied with the Tata-Fiat joint venture in terms of volumes and was looking at ways to sell more Fiat cars.

In the quarter ended June, the three-year-old joint venture made a cash profit of Rs.22 crore against a loss of Rs.166 crore a year earlier.
Source - livemint
 
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But you forget that they are legally obliged as long as there’s a tie-up between both manufacturers!


Not only servicing, in fact some of the Tata showrooms are not even selling Fiat cars. This is what happened when I undecidedly chanced to visit one of the Tata showrooms in hope to test Linea. The reason which dealer explained me? Since dealerships are after all an individual bodies, many of them are not yet accepting to trade with Fiat India cars. The core reason is still I’m not aware about.

Drive Safe,
350Z
the reason is:- fiat is putting undue pressure on tata to meet up certain international standards . and tata's (typical indian's) are hard shell to break. so there is always a cold war happening inside .

have you noticed the fiat service and maintenance as well as sales section are handled separately under a single roof !!

good news is tata is coming up, and i see it from Aria point of view.
 
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Well Jayadev Aria is a good product from TATA i agree but i don think it will improve or change the attitude of the SE or SA! TATA will remain TATA!


I hope Fiat parts off soon from them and start setting up individual showrooms and workshops because i see Fiat's SE and SA'S are much better compared to TATA.
 
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In my opinion this should be FIAT's line up
Linea TJET Active Dynamic Emotion and TJET+
Linea 1.6 MJD VGT (~115ps and 275nm) Active Dynamic Emotion and 1.6MJD+(same features as TJET+)
Add Dualogic Semi Automatic Transmission to both the TJET and 1.6 MJD

Punto 1.3 VGT Active Dynamic Emtion and Emotion+
Punto 1.4 Dynamic Emotion Emotion+ (retune the engine for tad more torque, Punto 1.4 is a highly underrated car and has very good performance)
Punto 1.4 TJET as Punto Sports and another variant similar to the autoexpo one Punto Sportz+
Maybe add the Dualogic to the top end variants.

Palio with new interiors or some other entry level hatch with the 1.3 MJD FGT and a 1.0-1.2 cc petrol with ~70-80 hp power

IMHO, so many variants only confuse the buyer!

Adding to this, I strongly believe FIAT should start manufacturing the TJET engine in India which would reduce the cost to a large extent and make the Linea TJET a steal.
Sooner than later, they must also manufacture the 1.6MJD in India so that it can be pitted directly against Vento and does not enter the corolla/cruze segment.
The 1.6MJD with dualogic in any case would be ~10-10.5L ex-showroom.
 
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Excellent suggestions and you have a excellent ideas which Fiat India lacks .
to add to the list is they should have their own dealers network .
My first car is a fiat(palio) so I want to see them succeed .
 
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....to add to the list is they should have their own dealers network .
This is one of the major reason for the low sales of FIAT cars. IMO they should setup independent dealerships because there are still a good number of people who do not even consider buying a FIAT just for the reason that its cars are serviced at TASS.
 
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The reason why I did not mention about the dealer network is that, it is not possible in the near future.
What they can do is, that let the existing dealerships be as it is and open a few more independent ones.
They need to do something (big) regarding the advertising.
I remember, when SACHIN was their brand ambassador, some lovely adds of Palio/Siena were aired. Even when the palio 1.2 NV was launched, the advertising concepts were great.
They need INNOVATION.
 

350Z

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Fiat’s top official has expressed concerns regarding the Joint Venture of Tata-Fiat because the deal is not doing as good as it was supposed to be. Now, the companies are considering setting up independent showrooms for Fiat cars, simultaneously selling through the Tata network as well. Also, to improve the Fiat’s image further, Tata is planning to set up brand centres for Fiat, which will be first opened in Delhi and Pune.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 

350Z

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Update: After the as usual wobbling sales figures last month, Fiat initiated the Ladakh Drive and now the company has introduced a unique scheme called ‘Fiat Upgrade Offer’. This is valid up to 31st July 2011 and applicable through a lucky draw. In this scheme, the buyers of Punto or Linea get a chance to win a year’s worth of fuel or Diesel variant of the Petrol car which you choose. However, in case you went to buy a diesel car, you will have to pay the price of its Petrol counterpart variant. For those, who’re looking to purchase the Linea T-Jet and are lucky enough in the lucky draw, you may get immediate Rs.1 Lakh off on the Ex. Showroom price.

Drive Safe,
350Z
 
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