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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-53.html)

agree: but I don't think Indian I20 has same Kerb weight as its export model. They have different quality standards for export version in fact I got this information from one of the associate who works in Hyundai Chennai plant. Even hyundai has never mentioned about i20's kerb weight in their official web portal here.

Kerb Weight of I20 Petrol - 1000kg
Kerb Weight of I20 Diesel - 1222kg

Weight difference between a diesel and petrol engine = 222 kgs

Kerb Weight of Punto Petrol - 1090 kgs
Kerb Weight of Punto Diesel - 1144 kgs

Weight difference between a diesel and petrol engine = 54 kgs

So dear friends, Hyundai i20 sheet metal is not heavy. Its the Diesel engine thats heavy and this 222kgs difference lies unbalanced upfront of i.20

Where as the punto sheet metal is heavy with solidly built structure and the weight difference between petrol and diesel engine is just 50 kgs odd.

Interesting discussion indeed! I am not sure if this exercise of setting up new sales and service outlets will bring in a huge change to the brand’s fortune. It’s a move in the right direction and could play a big part in better customer experience, but I am not too overly optimistic. If independent service centres alone will ensure happy customers, there will not be any stories of poor service related issues from other brands which always had standalone facilities (Skoda, VW etc. – to name a few popular ones).

Fiat does make wonderful cars, and they are one of those rare manufacturers who constantly make amendments/upgrades based on customer feedback. Having said that, I believe what they need now is a volume model – something like what the Figo is for Ford India, or the Duster is for Renault. Both are actually good case-studies for Fiat. The former especially was a brand with long presence with low sales, much like how Fiat is going now.

On a side note, I find this discussion on Punto v/s i20 and the likes a bit odd (and severely Off-topic on this thread). Both are hatchbacks, and probably similarly priced, but I guess the similarity ends there. IMHO, in real world both these cars / brands cater to very different sensibilities / priorities.

Increasing independant Fiat sales & services network is very good news for all the existing Fiat owners & those who aspire to buy.
But thing they are missing are getting new & more Fiat cars to sell in India.

Fiat has capable vehicles which are suitable for India like new Palio, PANDA but it is wasting too much of time by not launching them here. They badly need small cars/bread & butter models to run dealerships.

with only two products how is the dealership going to survive?

They should really learn from Renault. they came & have bunch of products to showcase in their showroom. how much they sell is a different story though.

I love Fiat!

One bbasic problem we as owners will face in independent Fiat dealership is the Tata Motor legacy, the style of working of the dealership will not have fresh ideas, atleast 2 places I visited had the shade of Tatas all around(Cannaught Place Fiat Cafe & Vecto Motors Bangalore), Fiat should have launched atleast 2 more models and implemented fresh dealership idea, what Renault did. I am still hopefull, lets see..But my 60K service experience and interaction with Prerana went till such an extent that I almost decided to get rid of my car(what is the point of having a great car with bunch of unpros handling it), but later cooled myself down.

Fiat Exclusive dealership and Service Centre is ready for opening. Just received an invite for the inauguration event.

Details:

• Date - 20 Mar 2013 from 9am
• Dealership : Bhosale Mystiqua, Model Colony Shivaji Nagar
• Workshop : Next to Suryadatta Institute, Opp DSK Ranwara, Bavdhan

Are you speaking about the sales division or the service center? I heard Vecto motors service center becomes operations only by 20th?

What went wrong during your 60k service? If you have already posted it somewhere, can you give me the link?

Also - do these FIAT/ TATA showroom alloys owners to watch the cars getting serviced? Or do they just shove them into one customer lounge at one corner of the building?

You are correct, vecto is not yet ready, but they are in the process of shifting ops there and guys from Prerana only will move there.

I had a real fight with them on changing engine oil, they were not ready to put the engine oil I had provided. And it went too far.... And they insist that customer stay at lounge only..

Most dealerships do not allow engine oil sourced from outside. Simple reason, they cannot guarantee whether the one you got is genuine, if anything goes wrong due to the engine oil provided, then the service center will be in trouble.
For security reasons, owners should not be allowed in the service bay. They should be able to view through a glass partition, but should not be allowed to walk to the service bay. When my car is being serviced, i dont want any outside person to go near to it. Also the service center need to worry about parts theft and have to invest heavily on security monitoring. The owner standing next to the worker creates a hostile work environment.

The ideal condition would be to let customer choose the engine oil he wants to use in the car.

But, these companies follow these policies, not just Prerana Motors, Viva Toyota too does not let you use the engine oil you want. You can only chose from the options they provide.

But certainly the service centers should allow you to use the engine oil you want, may be at the cost of having the warranty void.

I had given them the option to give the engine oil from their own stock, which they use for Tata vehicles, but they did not want to listen at all...

This same guys will manage the independent center and their behavior is not going to change, the manager clearly told me, at Tata motors we have a different policy and for Fiat different. When I asked him that why don't they convey customer's sentiment to the company, he said nothing can be changed from Fiat's end....

To give a heads up on progress in delhi / ncr region the kashyap management who currently have volvo and hyundai dealerships are owners of 3 showroom / 2 service facilities for fiat

1 in noida and other service centre in okhla phase III which is expected to be ready in 20 days time
Third showroom is the fiat caffe
Another showroom / service centre owned by soneone else would be coming somewhere in west delhi

Also for all kashyap fiat has surrendered VW dealership and taken Fiat

And the famous fiat caretaker, sharmaji is there in the kashyaps noida facility so delhi / ncr is in safe hands

The weight of I20 petrol is 1065 and that of diesel is 1212. The difference is 147kgs. How do you say its unbalanced? I am sure hyundai would not have taken the diesel engine and plonked it in without making any changes to the suspension etc. I20 has it weaknesses compared to Punto. Ride and handling and steering. Maybe higher maintenance cost. It also has it strengths. Space, interior quality, better ergonomics, better engine. And contrary to the general belief, the i20 build is superb. I have not had any rattles in 40K kms. And like I said before, its no use trying to make one car look bad.

Very early in my Safari ownership I made the mistake of purchasing the engine oil of my choice and it was refused by Prerana quoting " the oil has to be shown as changed by the dealership and the relevant inventory changes made in their system in order to preserve the sanctity of warranty". I was initially very surprised, but on making enquiries, found that it was the norm in most dealerships.
Asking for Tata recommended lubricants for Fiat even though compatible will not work as the ASC has specific instructions from the manufacturer as to what lubricants are to be used, hence the refusal, it is not just about buying the product in their stock, and the statement "at Tata motors we have a different policy and for Fiat different." is not put rightly, what the person in question has meant is that the two companies follow different policies with respect to servicing of the cars even though it is done under one roof. It does not mean the ASC has different policies towards a Tata customer and a Fiat customer.
Once you are out of warranty period, I'm sure they will put in any oil you provide without any questions asked.

I even asked that question, and the reply from GM was within or outside warranty they will only use engine oil recommended by Fiat, thats what surprise me more... I am not sure if I will get the oil filter outside or not, that's what made me change the oil there and to come to a compromise I had to pay for the engine oil they provided and put the oil I had given, but yes they handed over the recommended 3 ltr oil in a can to me....

If this is going to be the state, then what is the point of having better quality product in the market if we can't use them? Fiat should listen to the customer's need if they want to grow, its not that they don't but there are many gray areas like this which they have to address, in my punto ownership, I never had a problem with the car, but most of the time had some issues at service center...