[phamilyman]

Exactly. if Premier can set up 200 PASS. Does Fiat not have the guts/balance sheet to do a similar act? If VW/Nissan/Renault can do it - why not them?

Do remember the powertrain JV is making a decent amount of money for them, though overall i dont know if fiat makes money in India.

[hrman]

Hmm. Fiat finally officially deserts its handful of Indian buyers. Its high time they wound up their business and looked elsewhere. The company is a failure in the Indian market and this only confirms the image of Fiat in India. They need to concentrate more on the plonking the world class 1.3L Multijet diesel engines into more and more hatchbacks (read Honda, toyota) to remain in contention. The day Suzuki commissions its own diesel engine plant, Fiat will be in the doldrums for sure. RIP.

[amtak]

This makes me wonder, what happens to Fiat powered Indica Vista's? what was the contract? Will TATA cars move out of Ranjangaon?

[hbaruas]

This is what I was waiting for ..
I still have 7-8 months before I buy a car .
I hope that time is enough for FIAT to put their act together, hopefully I will be able to make a wise decision when I am finally in the market to buy a new car!

[vipul_singh]

Sometimes it is hard to believe that this is the same company which has the guts to take over Chrysler when it was down in the dumps, and then has the capability to make it successful (33% growth YTD ending Apr 2012 vs 2011, beating *everyone* else including VW, Hyundai, Toyota in the US in growth terms) AND consistently holds top position (Nuovo Uno beating VW) in a high growth market like Brazil. This is the same company which has entities like FPT in its fold which (in current or earlier shapes or form) has given us CRDI and MultiAir. This is the same company which is one of the masters of flexible platforms. This is the same company which knows brand management like few others - owning Ferrari for long and now propelling Maserati up.

So yeah, this company has the management talent (at least outside India) to climb any mountain. By the same token, FIAT India should be able to plan and launch new products for this market and setup a dealer network in a matter of months. Or, if no dealers come forward, setup COCO sales/service outlets - who needs dealers??. They should be able to come up with industry firsts in service quality. No, I am not talking about. Hyundai or VW - I expect all this from FIAT!

So why don't they do it in India? I just don't know. Every decision seems to take ages to take and implement. We've been hearing about the split with Tata for more than a year now? What has taken so long? Where is the fire in your belly, FIAT India?

[Sweet Chariot]

I totally agree that FIAT needs to think much more than this and needs to shut down it brand FIAT and re launch with Chrysler or lancia/Alfa brands here to get a boost in Sales. Not many would like to invest in huge showrooms and service centres when FIAT are not able to constantly sell 900 cars. what would the service area guys be servicing when the sales guys dont sell!

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

I was happy that if ever I would chose to buy a fiat (Which is very close to my heart), the TATA FIAT dealership's service center is just 40 steps away and the dealership 10 kms away from my place. But after this news, I am not sure whether any one would sell the Fiat in a small town like mine. This is a major drawback, at least for customers of small towns and the company (Fiat). It will lose many buyers of these type of cities

Problem is, this situation wouldn't have arisen in the first place had there been sufficient demand from our small towns.

Granted that Fiat will lose small town buyers, but then it asks itself how many such buyers do we have in the first place? To give you an example, I am yet to see a single Linea T-Jet plying the roads since the day it was launched. Why would Fiat then even bother about non metro cities?

Considering how Nissan has been able to garner respectable sales despite such a thin dealership network, what Fiat is aiming for is not impossible. What this step will actually translate into remains to be seen.
I wish them good luck, would hate to see things go any further downhill for a company that makes such beautiful cars.

[vipul_singh]

Originally Posted by Sweet Chariot

what would the service area guys be servicing when the sales guys dont sell!

That part made me think: if you look at the Tata-FIAT service centers today, I am fairly confident that more than 50% of the service revenue (from FIAT products, leaving aside the Tata bit) comes from the A178 cars. One of the ways the dealers could sustain themseleves is by increasing / improving the service support to the Palio / Siena till the time FIAT's product strategy eventually takes off.

In short, the Palio should be seen more as an asset by FIAT India (in sustaining dealerships) than as a dead-weight one is forced to carry. After all, it has sold more than the Linea and Punto combined

[abhi413]

Honestly, as a Fiat owner I feel rather good about this development. High time Fiat gave its customers a more feel-good environment. Without sounding prudish, please remember that Fiat buyers in India. also buy their cars purely out of love(!!) for this brand, among other essentials. Despite the poor brand value fiats enjoy in India.
Having said that, some of the posts above sound more like hate speeches. Maybe we should be a bit more objective, if a sleeping giant is trying to wake up - well let us see what it's got! maybe, just maybe the customer will be a winner this time.

[dhanushs]

IMO, the main issue for Fiat would be: After all this, how many would invest money in a Fiat-only dealership??

Well, there is no doubt that Fiat builds some awesome cars... in fact.. sometimes I have wondered, that if Fiat builds cars only for enthusiasts?

As a Fiat well wisher, let me pray that this move be a grand success, and let the Indian Car Scene get a buffet of some awesome auto's to choose from. And, let the ownership experience of these cars be as good as the cars itself!

[download2live]

Feels funny to think of that I will be able to walk into not so crowded showroom and A.S.S.
Lets hope for the best guys. MJD engine deal is making them lot of money. I think they will push some hard cash down.

[MAS]

This separation was already written all over the wall and had to happen sooner or later. I spoke to my contact in TATA-FIAT showroom. According to him, Fiat will have separate showrooms (marketing will be done by Fiat), but the after sales service will still be handled by the TATA-FIAT alliance.

Even GTO's has said that "dealer & distribution network" and not service network. I would wait and see what happens to Fiat before I sign the cheque in favour of Fiat.

[scofield]

Originally Posted by hrman

The day Suzuki commissions its own diesel engine plant, Fiat will be in the doldrums for sure. RIP.

This is never going to happen, diesels are in demand mostly in India and some parts of Europe not world wide.

Also to get a engine like MJD Fiat/GM have taken years of R&D in it which I dont think Suzuki shall ever do because they are still buying the engines from Fiat in this diesel market and not doing anything to comeup with their own inhouse engine - says all the story.

I would say Honda - is a real cult they havent even tried to the synergise their designs with MJD however they are developing their own diesel powerplant.

[jiji89]

I think its a positive move from Fiat albeit a risky one. The decision to move ahead with Fiat owned distribution network is definitely more reassuring than a (half hearted) JV/partnership with Tata who is essentially a competitor. This may also speed up introduction of new models like the Freemont and Panda here.

[vipul_singh]

@MAS: respectable sources (e.g. WSJ and Business today) indicate that the separation include 'service' as well:

From Business Today:
"Fiat will establish a separate company which will assume responsibility for all commercial and service related activities from the current Tata-dedicated team assigned to manage the Fiat brand, the statement said"