[VRPAI]

Personally I think they should go all out and launch all their international best sellers in India and try their luck out!. If even that fails they should probably think about exiting from India. They make a lot of good cars all around the world. If they go all out and launch some of their cars like the Tipo or the 124 spider with rear wheel drive,the Panda or the 500's ,the brazillian Palio's etc they may find the rub of the green.I know a car needs a lot of investment but still, i just feel they should go all the way for one last time in the Indian market. If it succeeds then it'll be great if it doesn't ,they can maybe make India an export hub or shut its shop here.

Else the other best thing for them would be just be a niche performance car manufacture, maybe have cars only under the Abarth badge, or the spider 124 or launch souped up cars targeting only the enthusiasts with powerful fun to drive cars.

It really easy talking about things though . I really hope Fiat does something or the other and turn their fortunes and do some miracles .I realy hope that one day Fiat's become as common as Hyundai's and the Abarth's become as rare as Fiat's of today

[GTO]

Originally Posted by anand.shankar

usually everywhere you hear that the Showrooms hardly make any money from new car sales

Don't believe that, it's not like a universal rule. Dealerships of the successful brands rake in the moolah on new cars too.

If that's how it works, most FCA service centers have enough cars that they actually delay delivery or deny taking in a car without appointment.

If you had to open a service station, would you opt for a brand that sells in the thousands every month...or hundreds?

Originally Posted by vpillai

May be the expo was as depressing for them as for our fellow bhpians and they took the decision to leave Fiat and to partner with Maruthi. I do not blame them.

Sure can't blame them. At the Expo, Fiat had the old Punto as a relaunch while Maruti had the Vitara Brezza . Plain & simple business sense.

Originally Posted by shivasuma

Fiat are making profit from selling engines to
Maruti & Tata, that's why they are complacent as a car maker.

I agree. This is one company that is plain LAZY. They just don't know how to work hard. How to burn the midnight oil.

Originally Posted by shortbread

I think Fiat can still save itself by hitchhiking on Tata's sales and service network, but with a slight shift in strategy.

Neither will Tata allow it nor will Fiat be keen on this. It's just so confusing.

When Fiat entered, they had their own dealerships with PAL. Then, Fiat had their own dealerships. Later, after sales dwindled, Fiat tied up with Tata and had presence at Tata dealerships. Now, Fiat has its own dealerships again, but they're shutting down .

[RobC]

I guess, looking back now, it seems I got lucky with deciding to sell my Linea off in December, now that there are no more Service centres in Trivandrum for Fiat.

The demise of the dealership is not really surprising. The last few visits were quite trying. The staff was ever changing, which made the service experience quite difficult. Everyone seemed disinterested, so much so that the place seemed like an empty shell.

Even after the Abarth Punto was launched, there was hardly any fanfare. The showroom was decked sparsely. Even after 10 minutes of waiting around the car, none of the staff were interested in talking to prospective customers. The attitude of the brand reflects at the dealers too I suppose.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by GTO

Don't believe that, it's not like a universal rule. Dealerships of the successful brands rake in the moolah on new cars too.

If you had to open a service station, would you opt for a brand that sells in the thousands every month...or hundreds?

I agree. This is one company that is plain LAZY. They just don't know how to work hard. How to burn the midnight oil.

Fiat had earlier given tier based margins on new cars which made the dealers sell more cars, as the more the sell, they would get higher margins on each car sold. However, the marketing and dealer development person changed and the genius in him withdrew this scheme. Now the results are showing.

Plain common sense for anyone investing in a dealership, the numbers make or break, for Fiat it is breaking.

GTO you nailed it, they are the laziest of management folks I have ever come across not just the automobile industry even other industries too. There is so much to write about them, but unfortunately majority of it is negative

[Nimish anthony]

Mohandas fiat has officially confirmed that they will cease to operate but will continue to service for a selected period till the agreement ceases.

[Aceman82]

To be honest that I really loved my Fiat. It did the full Leh circuit without even a rattle, supremely reliable, generally had excellent ASS with Ramkey Fiat and very good warranty claims like replacing a Half burnt clutch and disks (due to Leh trip) without even a question asked. I normally don't slow down for pot holes (or even carters/speed breakers) and in general drove the Linea like a Suv but it held on very well.

Ideally I don't need a 7 seater or even a diesel for that matter and was looking at the TJet (with the 1.2 lakhs offer) but with the sales going down the drain , i decided to possibly go with Xuv500 (once I see what Hexa costs) fearing what would happen in future with a Fiat.

Now, if this is the case with what you would call a "Satisfied customer with no complaints" , what hope is there for normal car buying public to go with a Fiat ?

[Captain Haddock]

I came to Trivandrum for a week and my cousin gave me his nano for my daily commutes. I like driving the car in city traffic. As a sign of gratitude I gave the car for service at Mohandas motors. They were rude and impolite.

I asked them to fix a steering grip once the service was done.They did not do it and mocked me for asking it. I wrote to Tata about the attitude of Mohandas motors and they contacted with me with an email promising everything will be fine and that I can collect the grip the very next day. I was not keen on going there merely for a grip but I noticed the car leaking oil after the service from the bottom part.

I was so upset that I went there quickly but to my surprise they had shut down their operations. I went to a trusted mechanic who said that they have not drained the oil properly from the system and once they added the new oil it overflowed. I had to change the oil again because the old oil had mixed with the new oil.

Getting such basics wrong is unpardonable and outright foolish. TATA does not have a single dealer in Trivandrum currently and it's a good thing that Mohandas motors has terminated their dealership.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Even Kulathungal motors showroom and service has been shutdown?

Mohandas has stopped their services for FIAT as well.

[Captain Haddock]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Even Kulathungal motors showroom and service has been shutdown?

Mohandas has stopped their services for FIAT as well.

Kulathungal shut down their service at least two years back. Had got my old TATA ESTATE serviced by them around 7 years back, was much better than Mohandas. Trivandrum is currently without a TATA dealership.

It is good that Mohandas motors has ended their dealership, they provided the worst possible service from my experience. How many professional workshops will fail to correctly change engine oil ?

In this forum I have vouched for Tata Motors when their quality of service was mentioned by some esteemed members of this forum, I am reverting my position and have lost all faith in TATA based on this experience.

The basic issue with TATA dealers is that they treat customers based on the car. When I used to visit them with my Estate a decade or so back they used to greet me. Now When I went there with a Nano and asked for something as arbitrary as a steering grip, there reply was cold and a service advisor mentioned he was not willing to call the mechanic to fix the grip as the car was merely a nano

I could hardly believe what he said, I agree that most Nano or indica owners are not from the highest echelons of society but how many Safaris and Arias you sell, TATA.?It's the average joes that buy your cars not the big honchos.

I am glad that I have a Wagon r and would not be facing such personal insults again.

If tata lets this rot continue they may be forced to quit the market. Almost all their models have poor sales, still the dealers treat customers as slaves.

Customers are spoilt for choice in the Indian market, if Tata keeps up this " GOOD WORK" they are bound to die a slow death in the market.

It's good that these dacoits in disguise have ended their operations in Trivandrum.

[greenhorn]

In my experience kulathunkal was worse than mohandas.

Focuz is still there, and most cabbies swear they're the best. If it wasnt so far away, I'd have gone there too

[sandeep_vgl]

I believe they are now South Park Motors and will be soon opening a Maruti Suzuki dealership.

[Captain Haddock]

TATA has called me and gave me a whole hearted apology. I would like to close this matter here and would like to thank Team Bhp for acting in behalf of the customer.

It's heart warming to see TATA responding to posts in TEAM BHP. Hats off to them.

[rdhawan15]

Good to know that Tata Motors is taking note of the grievances and trying their bit to resolve customer issues. Hopefully, they would continue the good work to give new prospects all the confidence they need.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by Captain Haddock

TATA has called me and gave me a whole hearted apology. I would like to close this matter here and would like to thank Team Bhp for acting in behalf of the customer.

Have they taken any action? Traditionally Tata's customer support has been very strong in providing sincere and reasonable apologies, but have been weak on action ( their support is generally instructions on how to negotiate with the dealer to get what you want while they will provide "outside support", and not necessarily direct action, so I'm curious what they did to resolve your issue)

[Captain Haddock]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Have they taken any action? Traditionally Tata's customer support has been very strong in providing sincere and reasonable apologies, but have been weak on action ( their support is generally instructions on how to negotiate with the dealer to get what you want while they will provide "outside support", and not necessarily direct action, so I'm curious what they did to resolve your issue)

Nothing specific can be done. Those morons could not change engine oil correctly and topped up without draining the old oil creating a puddle under the nano. When I went to Mohandas to seek some answers they had already shut down.

I went to a local garage and he drained the entire oil and added the correct grade after looking into the manual.

The other issue was the conduct of the service advisor who treated me vey badly and refused to call the mechanics to tie the steering grip to the car as they won't come down for a nano. How can anyone tolerate such a statement? Safari or Nano why discriminate customers, everyone pays them.

Unprofessional conduct at it's best.

I had mentioned the steering grip to them but not the oil issue as it happened after a few hours. When I posted the issue here, they contacted me and apologized and said they can make alternative arrangements at focus motors.

Since the issue is solved I don't need their help. MOHANDAS motors should have hired better mechanics and service advisors who are not behaving like this.

The good thing is that TATA is reading this forum. They contacted me promptly and asked about the issue despite mine not writing to them.

I like the cute little nano, a good urban car. Most people buy it for practicality. Nobody will buy that car if the service advisor treats them as second class.
I own a Wagon r and they treat me on par with someone with a sx4 or Ertiga.