Quote:
Originally Posted by Aceman82 I am not disputing on the technology or the features offered. The point remains that Original TJet was a commercial disaster at the price point which it was offered in since general buyers if looking for a petrol would go for a Honda City and not to mention that City S-AT might be the same cost as TJet Emotion. Those looking for a Diesel sedan would go for Rapid/Vento or Verna. |
My counter-point for that was the T-Jet wasn't a commercial disaster because of its pricing. The failure had more to do with Honda's upper hand in brand image, relatively better servicing reputation and Fiat's lack of advertising the capabilities of this car or engine (T-Jet). There was nothing wrong with the T-Jet's pricing as such, if you look at the product objectively. It was in fact quite reasonable.
Those looking for a diesel sedan would go for the Rapid/Vento, definitely agree. The 1.3 MultiJet Linea is a bit underpowered compared to the competition. They need to get that 1.6 MultiJet mill soon if they are to overcome that handicap. But people looking at a T-Jet would very well be aware of the petrol running costs. If there is some cross-shopping to happen, it will be between the City, T-Jet and Polo GT, rarely will it be between the T-Jet and MultiJet
Quote:
This would only mean further losses with production lying idle and not to mention the new dealers would need much higher sales to keep the business viable.For the very little TJet buyers who are available again will have choice of DSG equipped Polo or will stick with Vento siblings in their diesel avatar. Selling one TJet per month per city would not be very appealing for either for Fiat or their dealers (Assuming even that one TJet gets sold per city). Everyone is Team-Bhp is a self proclaimed enthusiast but most of our team-bhp members (including myself) actual buying decisions are down right pedestrian .
|
I wouldn't really call it a product for the masses, so they may not outright be worried about sales figures. I'm sure they will have thought about this before re-introducing it here. For the profits, they are already selling MultiJet engines like hot cakes, so I wouldn't really put my bet on them re-launching this car keeping profitability in mind. It may never succeed on sales charts.
Quote:
Hence whether Fiat likes it or not they must sell their product at a substantial discount (they can very,very limited edition or something like that) to have any impact on the market. The Linea 1.3MJD is underpowered that it will not have much of an impact irrespective of discounts and hence selling TJet at 1.4 NA Linea prices might at-least fetch some sales. Sure they will take a hit in the bottomline but they would need to establish some sales presence before launching new products like new linea or puntos. If TJet is priced at 1.3 Emotion prices then again after a year or so their would be another clearance sale which will end up diluting brand image further.
|
But why should we expect the T-Jet to be sold at the NA Linea's prices?? Isn't that being a little unfair - dragging it down to Etios/DZire category?
It deserves more for what the package brings in its entirety. Let us not forget that the Linea is a 4.6m full blown sedan competing with the likes of the Civic, Cruze and Laura/Octavia in other markets. The Linea T-Jet (155bhp version of the same Indian sibling) is priced close to 17L in Brazil, Turkey and other markets where it is dominating the sales charts. Although detuned and localized, the same car is sold at 11L in India alongside the City and Vento, which is quite value-for-money here. Just for sales figures, why should they price a 11L car at 9L and humiliate themselves? That's a strong no-no. It is a premium offering and should remain premium in my opinion.
The 1.4NA Linea is a dud to drive, the engine and gearbox itself are outdated and frustrating for most people to use. I would say Fiat deserves the results that the NA version brought out on the sales charts. Next time, they better plan their product portfolio well before embarking on ambitious experiments like those *lol*.
I completely agree with your view of them not having enough products to woo customers. Both the Linea and Punto are getting a little long in the tooth now, and customers are getting bored of them. They need to refresh the product line-up soon. They seem to be targeting 2014 for their new car launches, so I guess we'll only need to wait and watch what happens then.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tbppjpr IMO, Fiat can't price the TJet too low just to increase the sales numbers and they shouldn't. They can't survive if the are not making profits. A scope what I strongly feel is lack of options to choose from Fiat stable. They are just trying to survive in India on behalf of just couple of models which is not gonna help them.
Its high time they introduce couple of more models in general segments. For instance one car placed below Punto and one car placed above Linea. A cheaper car will help them spread the brand awareness and higher segment car will help in brand building. |
+1 for refreshing their product range with new launches. They need to get working on that, and on marketing/advertising. They face a serious weakness in both these areas, in addition to their reputation for servicing network/experience which they are now trying to rectify by going independent.
Quote:
Right now situation is that even the current loyal Fiat car owners are looking elsewhere. If someone has a Punto, he will upgrade to Linea but when he wants to upgrade from Linea, he doesn't have any option and have to look elsewhere. One can't stick to Punto or Linea forever.
|
how about a BMW 320D?
Just kidding, hehe.
Quote:
Are you comparing Ex-Showroom price of both or OTR? Polo is priced at 8L and if 11L is Ex-Showroom price of TJet, then its a huge difference, and secondly, both belong to different segments. I don't see any direct competition between these two.
Offcourse, there will be very buyers who may consider both of these and pick one of them, but those numbers will be very-very less.
|
Both are on-road prices in Bangalore. Polo GT TSI retails at 9.8L or something similar. The T-Jet was priced at 11L on-road before discounts. I just mentioned it to point out the similar nature of the cars, both are 'high-tech' turbo petrol engines targeted at enthusiasts looking for fun.