[ghodlur]

There is unofficial yet confirmed news that Balaji Fiat would no longer continue to be Fiat dealer in Thane and Navi Mumbai. This news is based on the conversation I had with one of the Fiat authority during my recent experience at Balaji Fiat. I had gone to get the rear left door actuator replaced under warranty but Balaji Fiat confirmed that Fiat had stopped warranty claims from balaji due to some finance issues. Paid service is available at Fiat. A brief talk with Fiat India revealed that Balaji will be discontinued in the coming days as a Fiat dealer/workshop.

Mumbai's other dealer Torrid is also in a similar condition and Fiat has stopped honoring warranty claims from Torrid too. This leaves just one Fiat workshop for the entire Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane region i.e RS motors Kandivali.

[Autocop]

Think FIAT terminated Balaji Autoworld due to their mishandling / mismanagement and believe Torrid happens to be in same boat.

R S Motors is a relatively small facility with no ramp for lifting and bottom washing the Car, but certainly most trustworthy of all Fiat service shops visited so far. Due to closedown of Balaji/Torrid all Fiat Warranty service/issues load and regular paid service/issues load is on them. The old customers of R S Motors (the ones owning Palios, Petras and even non-Fiat cars as they still service non-Fiat cars as well...) stretch as far as Panvel/Nashik and they refuse to visit any other shop due to lack of trust.

For Service, will be great if Fiat can find similar small and trustworthy service shop owners in tier1/tier2 cities at least and tier3 if possible.

For Sales, instead of appointing/investing in dealers will be better if Fiat can open company owned cafes in Tier1/Tier2 cities.

I think that should certainly help win some trust factor back.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

There is unofficial yet confirmed news that Balaji Fiat would no longer continue to be Fiat dealer in Thane and Navi Mumbai. This news is based on the conversation I had with one of the Fiat authority during my recent experience at Balaji Fiat. I had gone to get the rear left door actuator replaced under warranty but Balaji Fiat confirmed that Fiat had stopped warranty claims from balaji due to some finance issues. Paid service is available at Fiat. A brief talk with Fiat India revealed that Balaji will be discontinued in the coming days as a Fiat dealer/workshop.

Mumbai's other dealer Torrid is also in a similar condition and Fiat has stopped honoring warranty claims from Torrid too. This leaves just one Fiat workshop for the entire Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane region i.e RS motors Kandivali.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by Autocop

Think FIAT terminated Balaji Autoworld due to their mishandling / mismanagement and believe Torrid happens to be in same boat.

For Service, will be great if Fiat can find similar small and trustworthy service shop owners in tier1/tier2 cities at least and tier3 if possible.

For Sales, instead of appointing/investing in dealers will be better if Fiat can open company owned cafes in Tier1/Tier2 cities.

The termination was more because of financial minsmanagement. This double whammy comes at a time when the Abarth Punto is being on the verge of launch. without any dealership available for the TD vehicles, the fate of the Abarth lies hanging as was the case with other Fiat models. Although Fiat officials have been giving assurance of coming up with a special arrangement for Mumbai, I for one would not believe Fiat would be able to pull out the miracle rabbit from the hat so soon.

If a Metro like Mumbai can face such a situation, I dread Fiat will do justice to the Tier 2,3 cities. But I have heard Fiat service in south is fairly streamlined.

Meanwhile few of my friends interested in Abarth are travelling to Pune to check out the car post launch.

[blackwasp]

Man, this is extremely bad news! Who's going to sell the Punto Abarth now? I suppose Pune will have to do now. Mighty disappointed with Fiat!

[blackwasp]

Had a call with customer care. Torrid is still the authorized Fiat dealer in Mumbai. Only balaji has been terminated.

[Lij]

The Fiat India website is now updated with the only dealership and Service Centres available in Mumbai (RS Motors & Torrid Motors) and Vasai (V-Tech). So none now in Thane and Navi-Mumbai area (one in far off Panvel).

Any idea if there will be new ones coming up catering to other parts of Mumbai and Mumbai Suburban?

Bad news for now with the Abarth Punto ready for launch.