Fiat revvs away from Tata dealerships. To set up its own distribution network

sajo · 5th May 2012, 12:50

Much water has passed below the bridge, but here are my two cents anyway.
I consider myself a more informed buyer than the average Joe. I love driving and appreciate a good car. But when time came to buy a car with my own hard earned money, Fiat did not even register on my radar. Okay, there was possibly a brief flicker, but nothing more. What was it that was holding me back ?

Imagine you are out there, with a wad of cash waiting to buy something. There are two people who can give you what you want for exactly the same amount of money. One of them is conservatively dressed in a dark suit , and then there is the other person, shirtless and in shorts , red hair and tattoos all over him who at times breaks into a juggle with wads of cash. Both give you roughly similar things , but you know whom you will go to. The latter is the perception of Fiat in the minds of the general buying public.

Its easy for me to say they should change this perception blah blah blah...but I dont know if it is even possible at this stage. However, I wish them luck.

FastLove · 5th May 2012, 13:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by sajo

Much water has passed below the bridge, but here are my two cents anyway.
I consider myself a more informed buyer than the average Joe. I love driving and appreciate a good car. But when time came to buy a car with my own hard earned money, Fiat did not even register on my radar. Okay, there was possibly a brief flicker, but nothing more. What was it that was holding me back ?

Imagine you are out there, with a wad of cash waiting to buy something. There are two people who can give you what you want for exactly the same amount of money. One of them is conservatively dressed in a dark suit , and then there is the other person, shirtless and in shorts , red hair and tattoos all over him who at times breaks into a juggle with wads of cash. Both give you roughly similar things , but you know whom you will go to. The latter is the perception of Fiat in the minds of the general buying public.

Its easy for me to say they should change this perception blah blah blah...but I dont know if it is even possible at this stage. However, I wish them luck.

Thats exactly the difference between Learned Crowd and Herd Crowd .

For eg. The Learned Suzuki Management goes to the Bare Tattoe bodied FIAT in Red Shorts instead of the VW Men in Black Suit to buy the Superior Technology with the same WAD of money .

F150 · 5th May 2012, 14:02

If FIAT really wants to make it big here in INDIA,the idea suggested few posts back about the factory owned showrooms and service centers is the way to go. At least they should start this in the metros.

More aggressive measures would be to stop supplying engines to Maruti Suzuki after the 3 yr contract is over.

Bring the 1.6 MJD and plonk it in the Linea along with the 16" wheels from the Tjet variant.

Bring the FIAT Sedicci, it is only common sense that it will be competing with ecosport and the duster which seems to be hottest segment.

Sales will fly and the same time please spend some money on advertising FIAT.

I own a swift, I did consider the PUNTO during my purchase process. Things that I wasnt comfortable with when i visited the tata showroom.

1. There was no sales man standing next to the PUNTO.
2. I wasnt interested in mingling with indicab folks when I had to give my car to service.
3. Fit n Finish issues reported on the forum, which I believe are being addressed.

What FIAT needs to understand is that car is significant investment in a average indian family and most of them can afford to maintain a single car at a time.
So they need trust, its all a matter of hassle free ownership.

joslicx · 5th May 2012, 14:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Heard of the Subaru Impreza WRX Colin Mcrae Edition or the Mitsubishi Evo Tommy Makinnen Edition? These are extremely high performance cars and have been endorsed by rally drivers to further enhance their appeal.

There have been quite a few enthusiasts I know that have passed on the yellow S10 and bought the regular 1.6 because this endorsement actually had negative appeal to them.

So are you comparing the S10 to Impreza WRX CME or Evo Sp Ed.?

I still feel if a car is good enough it will sell itself provided there is a market for it. Evidently there was no market in India for S10 thats why it failed. Tendulkar's sign has no role in it. Even if Michael Schumaker himself came down to hand over keys to you personally still not many would have bought it. Its peoples hard earned money we are talking it, that too lakhs of it. You dont buy a car because XYZ is endorsing it. Thats banal thinking. You buy what you want to buy and can afford to buy. Those who wanted the S10 badly enough anyway bought it. Sadly the problem was, at least at that time, there werent too many like that in India!

akash_p_shetty · 5th May 2012, 14:47

I think its a good move coz poor sales partly to be blaimed to the dealers as well coz I remember not long time back I visited a Tata - Fiat dealer inquiring about the Punto but the sales guys were hell bent in selling the Indica rather than Punto.

gupta_chd · 5th May 2012, 15:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeyronSuperSprt

Showing your commitment to India is by improving your service to customers in India, gaining their confidence, and demonstrating that you have cars that are right for the Indian customer and not by getting a cricketer to sign your cars and then avoiding the rest.

There have been quite a few enthusiasts I know that have passed on the yellow S10 and bought the regular 1.6 because this endorsement actually had negative appeal to them.

The source is Autocar India magazine - have read this editorial myself - don't think the editorials are available online.

You had advocated the signature of Michael Schumacher instead of Sachin. I have given my point about that.

Also, every company tries all the measures you have listed and fiat is no exception. This is add on measure which they had experimented.

Editorial coming in the magazine doesnt mean that Fiat took the decision based upon that editorial. Editorial could be the outcome of this discussion doing the rounds already in the company.

satnam141 · 5th May 2012, 16:09

Note from Mod: There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the board experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

Mella · 5th May 2012, 17:56

I too am one of the satisfied Fiat car owners from a service perspective. Both for my sold Adventure and current TJet. It'll be interesting to watch what happens to the likes of us in the next few months.

finneyp · 5th May 2012, 20:33

I own a Fiat car (Palio) for the past 8 years, and have serviced with both Fiat's own SCs (initial 2 years) and later Tata Fiat SCs.
In my experience, Fiat SCs did a good job, they were competent & knowlegeable, spares was readily available, was confident of giving my car to them for service.
It was not the same with Tata Fiat SCs, they struggled to fix issues, were mediocre in basic jobs, spares not readily available etc.
Hence, I preferred an independent garage having Fiat experienced technicians rather than going to Tata-Fiat SCs.
This is a bold move by Fiat, only way to grow in the highly competitive market, they need to pump in money in marketing the brand & raising the brand awareness.
Heard Fiat Caffe in metros had good response, if they can offer good sales & service experience to customers apart from the great cars they make, people will definitely have confidence to buy their cars.

VeyronSuperSprt · 5th May 2012, 21:38

Quote: