[sajo]

So the fact that Fiat is establishin separate dealerships/Service centers has been stated. A timeline for the same has also been discussed.
So why keep this thread open now ? I dont think its going anywhere w.r.t. facts , and now we are left with as many opinions as people here.
Request the mods to consider this.

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

This particular point holds 200% true in case of Maruti also, with regards to the new Swift, aint it? Infact, you are the one who started that thread on TBHP and made everyone aware of the faulty braking system in the L and V variants of the new Swift.

I don't understand the value of 200%. There is a need for diagnosis when a part fails. What I have highlighted is a design issue which Maruti thinks is normal and so does 20,000 odd janata who is buying the Swift. I happened to chat up with a couple of Swift VDi owners at the service stations and they think their brakes are absolutely normal. Try telling them that they lack feel and they'll tell me that I need to learn how to control the car in gear.

What I am talking about is a service station level diagnosis for things like when a car has lack of AC cooling or lets say is overheating. In such scenarios as reported on the forum, Fiat customers have faced tough times getting the issue sorted. Go through some of the reported issues in Technical stuff. I can speak of the Palio and not the Punto or Linea since I've owned that car personally. Here's one such problem that never got diagnosed in my car for 1.25 lakh kms that I had the car: <A href="http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/19086-palio-1-6-sport-temperature-doubt.html" target=_blank>Thread link. We later assumed it was a design thing like the brakes of my Swift.

During my fanboy days I had come down aggressively on a team-bhpian as I was quite oblivious to the real world scenario, but do read this thread - Long term ownership report.

So its just not FIAT that has this diagnosis problem, but even Maruti , Hyundai also have this problem to sort out. VW pushed everything under the carpet instead of publicly accepting the fault or whatever was the root cause of the issue. So dont they need to improve diagnosis?

I had the Zen for a good amount of time as well. I have always gotten all work done at a Maruti after sales service and they never ever diagnosed one issue incorrectly. I have to give it up to them for making me a repeat customer. What I suggested can be applicable to others on a case to case basis. Not sure what VW put under the carpet.

EDIT: Sorry for going heavily off topic. The posts could be deleted as they look out of context.

[S.MJet]

Originally Posted by FastLove

5. The dealer network plan is in full swing and lot of New Dealers are already in the line to open up shortly . All existing TATA dealers will continue as it is till December 2012.

Had a discussion with Sales Manager at my Tata-Fiat Dealer.
As per him, they have applied for Fiat Dealership & will be converting one of their two showrooms to Fiat exclusive. It will be only for sales.
Service will continue at both of their service centers.

On asking how many of the existing Tata-Fiat dealers are likely to continue with Fiat, his answer was streight & made sense.

He said, where ever customers continue to experience good sales & service experience are the ones going to stay with Fiat & others either are not intrested or Fiat has rejected them based on past performance.

This looks promising, to existing Fiat owners as well as for Fiat's future here.

[Mindgrinder]

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.

[Sweet Chariot]

FIAT India never really understood the Indian Market like the other players . Despite entering India 15 yrs back and still not having proper independent sales and service center talks volumes about how poor has the company been in planning and executing its strategy. other players like Volkswagen, Nissan, GM, are doing much better despite entering India much later than FIAT. I also belive they exited the market twice and scared away lot of people.

The only reason i did not but a Punto inspite of my Bro owning one and being satisfied is be coz of the tata dealers exchange offer for my palio 1.2. they offered ny 35k for 85k run 2011 palio where as the maruti delear offered me 50k and Finally i sold it for rs 1.05 lakhs in classifieds.

why would i buy another fiat product when they cant seem to buy back thier very own product at a market price. the only reason i wanted to sell the amazing palio was b coz of the delears attitude in servicing and dubios ways to make money. they wanted me to change the clutch system b coz the car had run a succefull 80k even though there were no issues. then they dont have stock of it and make me run around and finally fit the same clutch system and charge labour for it. i have had many more horror stories on the palio service. i am glad i shifted to FORD.

[rjalihal]

Splitting with TATA will do very little to increase sales. Like what GTO mentioned in the opening page, if they bring in their other brands, it MAY get more people to come to their showrooms. As per Top Gear, Fiat is one of the most unreliable brands around who have lost a lot of market share to rivals. I for feel that their cars look better than they go!

Cheers!
Rohan

[SankalpDesai]

So far I've had good experience with my Tata-Fiat dealership - Fortune Cars, Powai (Mumbai). I'm not sure whether they will be opting for a separate Fiat dealership, but the company will definitely want to retain them as they offer good sale numbers to the company and service to the customers.

No doubting the fact that Tata did help stabilize Fiat at a time when there were no takers and as a result, Fiat today, is in a position to sell its engines to Tata, Premier and Maruti Suzuki, and not just its cars in the market. Fiat might have a bad sales chart for cars but has a healthy balance sheet overall as their diesel engines are selling by the hordes. Continuing operations for a couple of years wouldn't be a problem for them. How they handle the retail consumers, for the blanket period of 15-20 months, is something we all have to wait and watch. I like the suggestion that Fiat should at the least announce their future line-up on its website, similar to Renault, as it will help maintaining some interest in the minds of those who take pride in owning this brand.

Every car has issues. A lot depends on how one drives the car and also on one's luck with the car. I've owned my Punto for almost a year now and touch-wood there's not a single rattle from the car. It reeks of quality, inside out. I know this sounds stupid but that's how it is. All my colleagues have appreciated the quality of my Punto over a Swift or a Liva. But will they opt for one over the Swift and the Liva, if they are in the market for a hatch, is anyone's guess.

[sharninder]

Originally Posted by sajo

So the fact that Fiat is establishin separate dealerships/Service centers has been stated. A timeline for the same has also been discussed.
So why keep this thread open now ? I dont think its going anywhere w.r.t. facts , and now we are left with as many opinions as people here.
Request the mods to consider this.

Has FIAT mentioned any timelines for this exercise ? I might have missed the news. Request for a link please.

[FastLove]

Originally Posted by rjalihal

Splitting with TATA will do very little to increase sales. Like what GTO mentioned in the opening page, if they bring in their other brands, it MAY get more people to come to their showrooms. As per Top Gear, Fiat is one of the most unreliable brands around who have lost a lot of market share to rivals. I for feel that their cars look better than they go!

Cheers!
Rohan

Yesterdays Economic Times had a list of the Top 100 Desired Brands in the World .

I m not sure if the other FIAT brands are up there , but FIAT is definitely very much up there.

The Problem is we live in a Well.

[sahakar]

Originally Posted by AutoIndian

Just yesterday I was talking to one of my friends who owns a used Palio S10. (more than 6 years old now). His primary concern was availability of spares. He gets nervous with the thought of getting his car serviced from TASC & was asking me the details of the private garage from where I am getting my car serviced.

I am not sure whether the above is a good news or bad news for the existing & prospective Fiat customers, only time will tell.

TASC makes a mess out of servicing Fiat cars especially the older ones. I never take my S10 there but get work done with a couple of ex-Fiat mechanics and its worked out real well.

I am sure situation will improve somewhat then the mess right now. However the degree of improvement is what will make or break Fiat.

Cheers

[FastLove]

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

FIAT India never really understood the Indian Market like the other players . Despite entering India 15 yrs back and still not having proper independent sales and service center talks volumes about how poor has the company been in planning and executing its strategy. other players like Volkswagen, Nissan, GM, are doing much better despite entering India much later than FIAT. I also belive they exited the market twice and scared away lot of people.

The only reason i did not but a Punto inspite of my Bro owning one and being satisfied is be coz of the tata dealers exchange offer for my palio 1.2. they offered ny 35k for 85k run 2011 palio where as the maruti delear offered me 50k and Finally i sold it for rs 1.05 lakhs in classifieds.

why would i buy another fiat product when they cant seem to buy back thier very own product at a market price. the only reason i wanted to sell the amazing palio was b coz of the delears attitude in servicing and dubios ways to make money. they wanted me to change the clutch system b coz the car had run a succefull 80k even though there were no issues. then they dont have stock of it and make me run around and finally fit the same clutch system and charge labour for it. i have had many more horror stories on the palio service. i am glad i shifted to FORD.

+1 to that.

I completely agree with you. I have been frustrated many times with the attitude of FIAT - TASS and have had to raise my voice to get work done during my past 3 years with my Linea.

Its more like a Govt. office where you have to run around in their workshop to get your work done.

Having said that i can also count the number of Parts i got replaced FREE in the last 3 years with my persistence and follow-up and attention to details with them :
1. Bonnet Replaced after a very minute Bulge was spotted
2. Clutch Assembly Replaced after GTO drove my car and experienced Clutch slipping/ Clutch hardness
3. The HeadLamp Cluster replaced after my friend Sharma_Sanjeevi spotted some brown shade on the silver glass area. Got both replaced inspite of only one getting darkened.
4. The Front Strut Mount replaced in warranty
5. Clutch Slave Cylinder Replaced from original Plastic Design to Aluminium.
6. AC kit replaced as part of the AC recall that was done for improved AC performance based on customer feedback.

Ok. So, i know that many will now jump to comment that - with so many parts replaced in 3 years FIAT has got it all wrong with the Car itself. I would say i 'd disagree and commend FIAT for having ensured that they gave me all that was demanded in an effort to meet my expectations.

[sudarshansarma]

This should have been the decision in the first place. I remember asking for a TD of the punto in Mumbai and an Indica vista ended up coming for the TD. I love fiat, but not all enthusiasts have deep pockets!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by FastLove

1. Bonnet Replaced after a very minute Bulge was spotted
2. Clutch Assembly Replaced after GTO drove my car and experienced Clutch slipping/ Clutch hardness
3. The HeadLamp Cluster replaced after my friend Sharma_Sanjeevi spotted some brown shade on the silver glass area. Got both replaced inspite of only one getting darkened.
4. The Front Strut Mount replaced in warranty
5. Clutch Slave Cylinder Replaced from original Plastic Design to Aluminium.
6. AC kit replaced as part of the AC recall that was done for improved AC performance based on customer feedback.

Ok. So, i know that many will now jump to comment that - with so many parts replaced in 3 years FIAT has got it all wrong with the Car itself. I would say i 'd disagree and commend FIAT for having ensured that they gave me all that was demanded in an effort to meet my expectations.

See this is the problem.
Only 6 points you have. 6 parts replaced by Fiat. What kind of shoddy service is this? MY safari has had more than 60 parts replaced under warranty. I strongly believe by sticking with Tata they can replace more than 6 parts under warranty, and hence give better service.
Now with no tata, they are only 1/10 as good as Tata, and it makes better sense to buy a Tata car,infact 10 times better sense!

[finneyp]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Only 6 points you have. 6 parts replaced by Fiat. What kind of shoddy service is this? MY safari has had more than 60 parts replaced under warranty. I strongly believe by sticking with Tata they can replace more than 6 parts under warranty, and hence give better service.
Now with no tata, they are only 1/10 as good as Tata, and it makes better sense to buy a Tata car,infact 10 times better sense!

This also means Fiat cars are 10 times more reliable than Tata cars!
I am also sure Fiat service will be much better than Tata service.
Fiat only lacks in brand image & perception issues compared to Tata, and this will need some serious investment & time to rebuild.

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by finneyp

This also means Fiat cars are 10 times more reliable than Tata cars!
I am also sure Fiat service will be much better than Tata service.
Fiat only lacks in brand image & perception issues compared to Tata, and this will need some serious investment & time to rebuild.

And as far as I remember, Fiat has had ample chances of rebuilding. They used to be Fiat service before the Tata marriage happened.
Sales werent good even them.
And you do not generate perception and brand image overnight. you have to earn it. fiat seems to be doing little in that direction.