FIAT kicks off its new branding strategy.

[amit]

Just came across this news on sifty.com about Fiat reworking it's marketing strategy. click here

well they certainly seem to be making all the right noises but the problem is the noises are too muted and no one hears it! Also, i feel the ads are too subdued. They need to make some really flambouyant ads. IF they can make flamboyont car's then why can't they make similar ads? Is it a case of waking up too late?

p.s. I think they need to sign up Hyundai's advt agency.

[normally_crazy]

well,

fiat i think is fighting a losing battle here in india. it has the very best of weapons to fight it out but doesnt know how to use them.

the negative publicity of the FE and bad A.S.S has hurt them real hard.

even people who are completely satisfied with fiat , are hardly heard while the people who blow up negative facts are given ears by all and sundry. and india being a mouth to mouth publicity centre where people buy cars based on their neighbours experiences , fiat is in a soup !

cheers

so what should fiat do ??

[satish_appasani]

I don't think FIAT is really serious about their sales. Check their Indian web site, It was not updated for a long time.

They don't have the Petra in their site....

But being a good fan of Palio, I am for sure going to buy a Palio in the next 1 month. But FIAT needs thousands of more customers like me....

[satish_appasani]

Looks like Fiat is atlast putting the effort to wake up from their grave. Check the below link.
http://www.exchange4media.com/e4m....=&news=

Good luck Fiat

[GTO]

Fiat advertising topic has been merged with Fiats marketing topic

GTO

[GTO]

Hmmm, now we all know why Fiat is having such a crappy existence in India.

Lets do a very simple analysis:

Problem

1. Dealers, dealers, dealers. After sales service, service, service.

Fiats solution

1. New advertisements

2. A "toll free" number for queries??

Who the heck cares about a toll free number? And whats the point about new advertisements? After so many years, the consumer is now aware of the Palios existence and its new fuel-efficient NV avatar. Most consumers also know that the Palio is damn sturdy, well-built and offers comfort/ride quality/safety that is far superior to anything else on offer.

What keeps the customers away is those crappy dealerships, horrible salespersons and lack lustre after sales service. Just go and visit Shaman Auto (A Fiat dealership in south mumbai) and compare it to a Vitesse (Maruti dealership) or ANY Hyundai dealership. The Fiat sales staff cant speak english to save their lives, know nothing about the product but will promise you the earth and more. Its like visiting the most rural SBI branch, and then walking into an HDFC at Nariman Point.

Another thing that needs a thorough change is the management at the top!! They obviously dont understand the Indian market and the Indian consumer for nuts, and seem to have learnt all their ways from a certain Premier Automobiles Pvt. Ltd.

GTO

[amit]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Just go and visit Shaman Auto (A Fiat dealership in south mumbai) and compare it to a Vitesse (Maruti dealership) or ANY Hyundai dealership. The Fiat sales staff cant speak english to save their lives, know nothing about the product but will promise you the earth and more. Its like visiting the most rural SBI branch, and then walking into an HDFC at Nariman Point.

u hit the nail on the head GTO. When i was planning to buy the palio i visited shaman and felt like walking out after just 3 minutes! having read the discount on the S10 i told them that i was interested in the 1.6 and the salesgirl didn't utter a word on the S10 discounts!!!!! Ultimately i had to ask her if there were any disocunts on the GTX/S10 to dig out the info from her mouth. Such lethargy!! FIAT are u listening??

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Another thing that needs a thorough change is the management at the top!

FIat needs to chuck out all those italians out of the top management immediately. They have no understanding of the indian pysche. Maybe they feel indians buy car's after visiting websites/reading auto mags etc.
Lastly, in july autocar, they have a 6 hatchback comparo and palio is chosen as winner. have fiat made any noise over it? Can u imagine the kinda advts. would have been released by hyundai if the santro was chosen as the winner?

[lamborghini]

well fiat is spendin a lot on their ads but then again they spent alot with sachin tendulkar and that had no outcome.......
anyway as for the italian heads dont even get me started on them .....
man a newborn indian can handle fiat better .......

[artofzen]

YA GTO u said it ..FIAt is losing out in india not because ppl are bothered abt the fate of the company ...ONLY BCZ of CRAPPY dealers ...i thot it was just the TVS guys(dealers in kerala) offering such crappy service..i am wondering ...isnt it amazing how FIAT managed to find such craapy dealers for their cars all over india..maaan thats some managmnt skill

[cartech]

See:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...ow/2754419.cms

All the best to FIAT

[theMAG]

Nice to see proactive action from Fiat India

[kurmist]

No matter how much of money or efforts you pour into "brand" building, ultimately what drives success or failure, is the end customer experience. From what I have read and heard about Fiat, it needs to pull up its socks on that front.

From a car buyers' perspective, what I look for are the following:

1) Ease of access to information on product
2) Ease of actually purchasing the product i.e. the sales experience
3) The after sales experience i.e. service delivery

You may tom-tom all you want about how good your product is, but at the end of the day, if it fails to meet customer expectations, it just will not sell.

I agree that this is a step in the right direction, but as the saying goes....there are many more miles to travel.

[snaronikar]

Are they planning to open their own dealerships? Its not clear in the news clipping. With Tata at the back ground, the customers may feel wanting for the A**. Moreover, they need to be more competetive on their spre parts pricing.

[amit]

The problem with Fiat sales today is that you can barely see a Fiat showroom anywhere. Yes Fiat's are sold through Tata-Fiat dealerships but look at any dealership and you can only see TATA all over. Fiat is sitting in one corner and you actually have to make an effort to find the Fiat logo and it actually takes a couple of seconds to locate the Fiat name on the dealership board. Same thing happens with the cars parked outside the deaelership. We can only see Tata cars out there.

Firstly, a prospective car buyer doesn't have a Fiat product shortlisted in his mind when he goes to buy a car. To add to that, he actually has to find a Fiat outlet to just go and take a look at their product. Thats just the beginning because once inside a dealership he sees that everyone is more interested in pushing the Indica and Fiat's products are languishing in some corner like orphans. Would he buy a Palio then?

Is it any wonder then that Fiat sells fewer Rs.4.5 lac Palio's then Honda sells a 2 million rupee CR-V every month?

[tez]

Folks at FIAT also mentioned that they are concentrating on GP and Linea and not much on Palio. I doubt if this branding strategy would be helpful for FIAT. Customers of 500 and Bravo would not be forgiving as some small car customers can be.