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-   -   Fiat revvs away from Tata dealerships. To set up its own distribution network (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/119990-fiat-revvs-away-tata-dealerships-set-up-its-own-distribution-network-52.html)

I believe the new advertisements can be aired only from April 1st onwards when the official sales and distribution agreement cease to exist. I guess, FIAT has also roped in O&M for their advertisements.

Now with respect to ads, will need to wait and see what will be aired in the TV media and what print ads come up.

Reference for O&M

Source-internet

"i20 braking distance from 100 to 0 KMPH is 65 s and that of Punto is 48 s. You will stop 17m earlier in Punto."

In most cases the Punto will avert an accident, the i20 might still protect you but with all airbags open and with possibilities of injuries to any extent, to death even.

Which one would you prefer? i20 or Punto?

P.S: I'm extremely sorry for picking on you, but I just want a lot of people to know what are all the most important things to consider before buying a car. Hope you understand. Thanks

Hey, this is perfectly fine. - I was aware of this and even remembered it prior to posting the previous post, and that is one of the reasons that i20 has not been in my garage, infact in the case of the i20 the braking distance of the three engine varients they have here vary quite a bit. Something surely is quite wrong there. Smartcat had done a nice comparo of all the hatch and all the sedans and had noticed this at that time.

My specific example from earlier was just about the Heavier car logic. and in no way was I saying the i20 is necessarly better than the Punto. There are other factors to consider. Infact I may add that 5 star ratings in case of both cars are for a particular varient (normally the top one) and in case of i20 it is a six airbag varient. How many buyers in India buy cars with even 2 airbags even if the option is available. That said modern technology does enable a very light car to be very safe due to the way in which they bend and weld the metal etc, and of course the active and passive safety elements.

Of course Hyundai must have been doing somethings correct globally to have moved into the 4th Largest car maker slot (globally) behind GM, VW & Toyota and ahead of brands like Ford, Nissan, Honda, Renault and Fiat. People are buying a korean brand for it's realiability, looks and also safety. The Braking distance too is considered in safety tests but have not really been able to figure out why the i20 in India (I think one particular varient) is so poor.

This could be seen to be a major deviation from the topic so lets get back purely to fiat dealership before we get pulled up.

I am surprised to see some one saying Linea was overpriced or positioned higher than what it should be. I still think its one of the most value for money cars that one can get in the market. For example, I was shocked to see the ex showroom price of top end petrol etios at 7.3 lakhs.(No offence meant to etios owners). That's the same price that I paid for my Linea petrol emotion pack in 2009. And I cannot imagine comparing a Linea to an etios. Similarly the Honda city was dearer by at least 1.5 lakhs then. While the Linea offered a lot more value at a far more lower price. And I still think even after various price increases, the final cost is almost the same as when it as launched due to the discounts. Whenever I take my other ride out, I always wonder how could fiat give me the Linea at such a low price. Fiat have made mistakes in the past. Fortunately I never had any bad experience with them neither with the Palio or the Linea. I sincerely wish them to be successfull in the Indian market. They make brilliant cars. May not be very powerfull (the present line up) but excellent in many other departments. Only when I started owning another brand I could understand how good these cars are. The exclusive dealerships was what was required at the base level. The complaints should be rectified at the dealership level itself instead of involving the higher officials. Some good marketing explaining fiat and its subsidiaries will slowly develop a good brand image. Growth will be slow, but with good service and brand building exercise they should taste success.

People still remember the name Fiat and see few on road because of Tata. At a time, when the parent FIAT, do not want to spend any money on India operations, Tata helped them form the JV. Irrespective of what people perceive, insiders know the fact that Tata actually saved FIAT from oblivion in India.
Now coming to the new Dealerships, with the minuscule sales, no way the current FIAT only service centers and dealerships can survive. As a business, why would some one invest money knowing they wont be able to recover money? What they should have done was, create a FIAT subsidiary to own the dealerships until the sales volume pickup. Also FIAT should have taken all steps to increase the sales volume first, before moving out from Tatas. Now i am worried, some of these new dealerships will wind down shortly or switch to some other brand once opportunity arise. Yes it is a chicken and Egg scenario, but things should have planned better, that is where the current FIAT management lacks vision.

I will have to intervene here after being a listener in this thread for a while.

Going by your logic of heavier car having edge over lighter ones, i20 should have brought down Punto/Linea hands down. i20 CRDI is indeed heavier than Punto and Linea. Everything is perceived with Fiat by the non owners. :)

Kerb weight of the cars in debate for reference -
i20 CRDI - 1222 kgs.
Linea MJD - 1210 kgs.
Punto 90 - 1144 kgs.
Punto 75 - 1130 kgs.

You are spot on with your later post in saying that modern cars should be lighter and be safer. And that is how I really see Punto's and Linea's. :)

But talking about the new dealership, independent of Tata, I don't really see a change coming in, the existing Tata dealers only in most of the cases, taken up the new dealership with old staffs, and a major shift in atitude will be a surprise, I felt the same old frustation while I gave my car for servicing at Prerana Motors, and I know the newly formed Vecto is just a shell company of Prerana and the guys handling Fiat car there will be shifted to Vecto, I fear for the future...

Personally, I am happy with the service of TAFE in Chennai for all these times. Now, Fiat's exclusive in Chennai is handled by RDC which is no way related to any of the existing TASSs. They have a Hyundai dealership running in Chennai. I would still be fine with them as they hired most of the experienced Fiat mechanics from TAFE. Seriously, we will have to come out of the 'Hate Fiat' mania and be optimistic instead of blaming Fiat on whatever they do.

A very correct observations, frankly the dealers themselves cannot be all or mostly bad for one brand and all or mostly good for another brand. It is the Brands practice, systems, support, training, policies, products etc that make up the complete service package. I am aware of a TATA & (Presently also FIAT) dealer in Mumbai which also services Ford (In the same Location Separate Building) and also Toyota. We can obviously infer accordingly.

According to this month's autocar, i20 weighs in at 1212 while Punto 90 weighs at 1144. So thats about 68 Kg difference. Also the 80-0 stopping distances for I20 and Punto are nearly the same. The i20's brakes are one of the best in its segments. You buy a car according to your requirements. Punto is not the "best" car in its segments neither is I20. So trying to put one down or the other is of no use. Fiat probably needs to improve their after sales. Opening their own service centres shows their commitment (despite having a miniscule market share). But how well will this be executed is to be seen. From my experience of having owned a Hyundai, their service is good, but maintenance is a bit on the higher side. I have not owned a fiat in recent times, but have owned several (1.37D, 1.38D, Uno) and their service at that point of time was pathetic (its actually an understatement). I think that past baggage to some extend is hurting them. All I can say is good luck fiat.

Even if they are same dealers, it will now be monitored and controlled by FIAT. This in itself is a big change. Fiat can now easily bend them to provide good service.

Example 1. B.U. Bhandari , Pune was a TATA dealer now shifted VW. Same service centre, same staff, same people. But service provided is 100 times better.

Example 2. Pandit Auto , Pune. Pimpri - Bad service for TATA cars, very good service to Fiat cars. Fiat team is entirely different, mechanics are different. Personally seeing how they do a team work is just fabulous. They love Fiat cars to the core and every mechanic just praises the car and says " Sir, dont worry, we will resolve the problem and only then go home"

Also dont bother about the advertisement of 5star ncap ratings etc. Fiat isnt a Hyundai who will put stickers all over the cars rear windshield for advertisement. " My next car is hyundai BLAH BLAH BLAH" "5 star rating" - on a non abs model too.

Practically we have seen so many accident pics accross all forums of maruti, honda , fiat, hyundaiand other cars. The build quality of FIAT cars is very much evident , be it a palio mulled down by a railway or a linea holding a 16 ton truck with stones filled over its roof. Owners have walked out safely and have directly bought another FIAT.

Amit you hit nail right on its head. One of the very main reason I own Fiats is bcoz I know that my family is safe once on the move.

I did a research and could not find any news of fatality in Fiats at least in India. The Bangalore train accident where a Palio was dragged for a KM when the couples came out with slight bruises, then the Linea taking a truckload of gravel on its head with the family cliking pictures of wreckage etc. are the things which gave me confidence. Not to mention, once you sit inside the car u get a sturdy and safe feel.

To the hell with pathetic after sales, resale, tata, and what not. All I care is my car should not become a grave for me or my family, I can throw away 10 Lineas/Palio/Punto for disposal if it is about my family's safety.

Maruti is one of the most notorious car for fatalities. The build quality of entry level cars from Maruti shows the amount of care the No.1 brand has for their customer's life.

Seems things are improving. Mom is the registered owner of our family owned Punto and she got a feedback call a week before. She promptly asked them why is that everytime we have to take car to Bangalore for service ? Why the tvm guys not doing a good job ?

OT - Concorde did do an amazing job on regular service, promptly doing all checks, filter changes, free alignment etc. Of course,i do know few guys personally, so probably that's reason !

Post the call the service manager from TVM (one of the tata-fiat dealers) called her for a free pick up/drop + offered a free service next time ! Two guys came on Saturday to do a general checkup for free. Topped up radiator, wiper washer etc.

Though we never had any complaints in general with the car, service guys in kerala have done damage to the car in the name of fuel pump repair (it got replaced under warranty finally !) breaking clutch cable (or similar which resulted in no gear-shift beyond 1st gear !)

I am a SUV lover when in India and I love cars as much. When i drive a punto it feels solid, the ride quality is amazing. I know of a friend who had an accident in a palio because he dozed off, had a nasty crash, but his family including wife and two small kids escaped unhurt. They promptly booked a punto upon their return !

I think FIAT cars offer good options in their segments, people would buy once the image and service issues are sorted out.

At the same time, i'd also remind that i had bad experiences with Toyota (Servicing Innova), Maruti as well. but the overall perception is good !

Well, for the reasons best known to Hyundai they are shying away from displaying the Kerb weight for i20 in their website. I took the Official Review of Team-BHP to get the Kerb of i20. Link - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...ml#post2786425

Really??? This is news at least to me.

I was responding to a discussion on the weight advantage to clarify that Punto doesn't weigh as much as i20. If you want to discuss on the "BEST" car in the segment, this may not be the right thread.

Probably, the right thread may be - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...bad-roads.html

Not only Fiat, every car maker in India needs to improve their after sales. I am tired of saying this. People talk bad about Fiat service are actually non-owners or owned a Fiat 2 or 3 decades back and still correlate the same at present too. I have owned both Hyundai and Fiat in recent times and for me, I am more than happy with Fiat than Hyundai. More on this, here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post3061002

This is absolutely true. Not only service quality is going down, every time they (Fortune cars) have one or the other way to fleece customers.

Any confirmed news where this exclusive dealership is coming up in Navi Mumbai. (I understand, Fortune cars has not taken up Fiat dealership)