[coolmel]

Small update from Mumbai, as in the midst of a new car purchase realised a few facts.

Nearly all dealerships listed on the Fiat site( Wasan, Concorde & Fortune) across Mumbai shall not be selling or servicing Fiat cars post 31st March. I called them to get me a test drive of the Punto 90 but neither could any arrange for one. They were still clearing '12 stock and offered me a 75hp at a 80k cash discount. I budged them more and they offered me the Vista 90! I gave up and said thanks.

But a nice sales gentleman from Concorde did confirm that Fiat is working on opening an exclusive outlet & service centre near Lower Parel side and quite likely this year will see Fiat getting the new Linea, the 500 and the Panda in. No word on the Punto Evo. This got a smile on my face and have ruled out any purchase for now.

Fiat needs to come back in the game and how! So allow them to take their own time.

[Redline6800]

Related Thread

Fiat India, which many have given up as down & out for the count, is trying to get back into the ring again. News agency Reuters reports that Fiat is all set to begin its next innings in India. Fiat will ring in 1st April by opening its new fully-owned 57 dealer network, which the brand hopes will revive the near terminal slide in its car sales. It adds that Fiat now has plans to target new and fast growing market segments such as SUVs and sporty cars. Chief among them is the plan to begin local production of a new mini-SUV sourced from Jeep by 2015.

Earlier, Fiat cars were available in 174 Tata-Fiat branded dealerships across 126 cities, but these showrooms were left with Tata Motors after both companies decided to go their separate ways in 2012. The carmaker hopes to increase its dealership number to 112 by 2014. Fiat lost out in car sales to Hindustan Motors and occupies the last position of the Indian car market. The company is targeting to have 1% of the market by the end of 2013, rising to 5% in the longer term. Fiat will need to do something special however to pull itself out from its current situation.



Fiat has plenty of work to do. The brand suffers from quality concerns, poor image, inconsistent service network and low resale value. Changing this perception is the reason why Fiat has decided to bring about product refreshes, new models and performance variants from its Abarth division.

[sparsh]

However in the Joint Venture with Tata, the major beneficiary was Tata and they just milked Fiat to the last drop. Now we have the same engines in Tata at a much lesser price point with pretty much similar trim levels. However Tata cars will take a lot of time to come up with the sheer driving pleasure of the european cars. The areas Fiat needs to focus mainly are on after sales support, spares availability, localisation of key spare parts, keep launching new products which are launched in the global market place within a gap of 6 months to a year. Irony is maruti and tata who are using the engines are definitely raking up the sales numbers. Lets hope Fiat has learnt its lessons and can go all guns blazing in coming out with newer and solid products in the next 1 to 2 years.

[funkykar]

Just have a question on volumes.

Earlier, TASS would be 2 centres of Prerana, 2 centres of Concorde, 1 KHT and 1 Aadya.

Can Vecto + Aadya + KHT handle the volumes of earlier TASS?

I have waited on an average of 3-4 days to get appointment in Prerana and KHT. Aadya I never visited. Concorde Mysore road was the only prompt centre that has taken my car the very next day. They had a very nice model and used to work well for office goers. Slots to leave the car for service used to start at 7AM itself.

Eager to know how FASS handles volumes going forward!

[lloydofcochin]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Just have a question on volumes.

Earlier, TASS would be 2 centres of Prerana, 2 centres of Concorde, 1 KHT and 1 Aadya.

Can Vecto + Aadya + KHT handle the volumes of earlier TASS?

I have waited on an average of 3-4 days to get appointment in Prerana and KHT. Aadya I never visited. Concorde Mysore road was the only prompt centre that has taken my car the very next day. They had a very nice model and used to work well for office goers. Slots to leave the car for service used to start at 7AM itself.

Eager to know how FASS handles volumes going forward!

Karthik,

We need to keep our fingers crossed. I'm leaving my Palio for service on 4th at Vecto. That's the 1st day of operation for Vecto A.S.S. They are not taking any vehicles at Kudlu gate from 1st April since the FIAT team would be shifting to Vecto.

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Eager to know how FASS handles volumes going forward!

Three service centers for a City like Bangalore is more than enough for Fiat. I am going back to my Hyundai days in 2007 where I had only 5 service centres that time and I had to book for service one full month in advance and even then sometimes I won't get the dates too.

[funkykar]

^
I asked that because already the TASS was over-crowded for Fiats. Now its 6 Vs 3. Ideally the new 3 centres should be covering 200% of the numbers handled by TASS. Else, it could be quite some chaos where customers may need to wait over a week to get appointments. Hope the 3 service centres have adequate bays and staff to handle more number of cars. Also, none of the service centres are in heart of the city :(

[rameshnanda]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Hope the 3 service centres have adequate bays and staff to handle more number of cars.

I think so and seeing this little differently. Previously, TASS had very minimal number of bays dedicated for servicing Fiats. Now, the exclusives should have more capacity to handle the Fiat only cars. I mean to say, the current FASS would at least be able to handle 2 times the number of cars than the previous setup (TASS).

Originally Posted by funkykar

Also, none of the service centres are in heart of the city

There is no FIAT ASS coming up in the southern and western parts of Bangalore. My Linea will be missing the nearest Concorde Motors, Mysore Road for the future services. :(

[Sommos]

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

There is no FIAT ASS coming up in the southern and western parts of Bangalore. My Linea will be missing the nearest Concorde Motors, Mysore Road for the future services. :(

Atleast you have Fiat exclusive at Bangalore.
But West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha plus the whole of North East does'nt even have a single Fiat exclusive showroom as on date. Think of the poor fellows there.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by funkykar

^
I asked that because already the TASS was over-crowded for Fiats. Now its 6 Vs 3. Ideally the new 3 centres should be covering 200% of the numbers handled by TASS. Else, it could be quite some chaos where customers may need to wait over a week to get appointments. Hope the 3 service centres have adequate bays and staff to handle more number of cars. Also, none of the service centres are in heart of the city :(

Even before getting to sufficient number of bays for the cars, its only Vecto Motors whose service center will be operational in the near future. There is no news absolutely on the Aadya and KHT exclusive service centers yet. If they would service cars in the existing facility, I will be more than happy not to go there.

Originally Posted by rameshnanda

I think so and seeing this little differently. Previously, TASS had very minimal number of bays dedicated for servicing Fiats. Now, the exclusives should have more capacity to handle the Fiat only cars. I mean to say, the current FASS would at least be able to handle 2 times the number of cars than the previous setup (TASS).

Most of the service centers had 3-4 bays at the most for Fiat. Things should change as the numbers of bays for cars would increase with the stand alone service centers. Again the turnover and the efficient utilization of the bays is a different matter all together.

Originally Posted by J.Ravi

There is no FIAT ASS coming up in the southern and western parts of Bangalore. My Linea will be missing the nearest Concorde Motors, Mysore Road for the future services. :(

The only one that will be operational (in a fortnight hopefully) would be Vecto Motors. KHT would be near ITPL and Aadya near Yelahanka (both KHT and Aadya locations are more hearsay) are again out of the city similar to the Vecto Motors.

[funkykar]

Originally Posted by nkrishnap

Even before getting to sufficient number of bays for the cars, its only Vecto Motors whose service center will be operational in the near future. There is no news absolutely on the Aadya and KHT exclusive service centers yet. If they would service cars in the existing facility, I will be more than happy not to go there.



Most of the service centers had 3-4 bays at the most for Fiat. Things should change as the numbers of bays for cars would increase with the stand alone service centers. Again the turnover and the efficient utilization of the bays is a different matter all together.



The only one that will be operational (in a fortnight hopefully) would be Vecto Motors. KHT would be near ITPL and Aadya near Yelahanka (both KHT and Aadya locations are more hearsay) are again out of the city similar to the Vecto Motors.

I assumed even KHT and Aadya would be operational from April 1st. If it is just Vecto, its indeed very sad for now. Except for people working at Electronics city and near by, this service centre may sap an entire day to just leave their car for service and collect it back in the evening, especially for folks who do not like to use the pick and drop facility.

Hope KHT and Aadya get operational soon just to facilitate people who stay closeby. Dealers should seriously consider opening couple of centres nearby to heart of the city.

For now, if Vecto has good number of bays, with a bit of inconvenience of itr being far, customers atleast can get the necessary services.

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by funkykar

I assumed even KHT and Aadya would be operational from April 1st. If it is just Vecto, its indeed very sad for now. Except for people working at Electronics city and near by, this service centre may sap an entire day to just leave their car for service and collect it back in the evening, especially for folks who do not like to use the pick and drop facility.

Hope KHT and Aadya get operational soon just to facilitate people who stay closeby. Dealers should seriously consider opening couple of centres nearby to heart of the city.

For now, if Vecto has good number of bays, with a bit of inconvenience of itr being far, customers atleast can get the necessary services.

Absolutely no news about Aadya and KHT starting their service centers anytime soon. Its the sales outlets that will be fully operational. I have already started feeling that Vecto Motors will be overloaded with cars atleast till the other service center opens.

Its a good oppourtunity for them to provide a pleasant service experience and increase their customer base subject to they handle the volumes efficiently.

[funkykar]

Those who frequent to KHT and Aadya, do you guys know if they continue to accept Fiats in present service stations until they come up with exclusive centres?

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Those who frequent to KHT and Aadya, do you guys know if they continue to accept Fiats in present service stations until they come up with exclusive centres?

I believe they are taking in cars for service at the existing stations. The reason for having the exclusive service center is defeated if this continues and they take their own sweet time to get the exclusive service centers operational.

Though its good to have a service center which accepts the cars for service, but its even better to start the stand alone operations ASAP.