[rsidd]

Originally Posted by carwatcher

How much discount is significant ? How will it be possible for the manufacturer to reduce the price by just making two doors fixed. Then it will be mentioned again and again that 'just by paying xyz amount more you get a 'proper' hatchback.

The price difference in the UK between the basic 3-door Punto and the basic 5-door Punto is GBP 600, ie approx INR 60,000. Not insignificant. Let's say the difference in actual cost of manufacturing is only a part of that, say INR 40,000. It may still be enough to push the base price in India below Rs 4 lakhs. (Should be noted that the 3-door Punto in UK starts at GBP 10,990, ie more than the Abarth Punto here.) I have no doubt that the manufacturers think the way you do -- I'm just wondering if they're wrong. After all, nobody demands 6 doors for 7-seaters like the Innova.

[kvish]

Did anyone forget the zen carbon? It still draws eyeballs towards it.

This may create a new market for younger college crowds who rarely use the back seats. Also a significant portion of base rental cars in the west are 2 door ones.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by kvish

Did anyone forget the zen carbon? It still draws eyeballs towards it.

This may create a new market for younger college crowds who rarely use the back seats. Also a significant portion of base rental cars in the west are 2 door ones.

The market dynamics in the west are quite different from ours! Larger families, mostly one car per family, lesser affordability etc.

Forget two door cars, even the ones with less rear legroom fails to impress our market. Most of the new releases in the B+ and C segments from the major players feature more rear legroom than the D segment sedans of the last decade.

[vinit.merchant]

Originally Posted by hybridpetrol

FIAT for taxi market these days!?
I don't think so!

You will be surprised at the increasing number of Punto's I see in the taxi market.
I stay close to the Pune airport and all the taxi fleet keep parking in our lane since it is the closest "free" parking space to the airport

And believe me, I have seen a lot of increase in the number of yellow plate white Punto Evo's in the last 6 months. Offering them the GP at a cheaper price will only increase the adaptation of it in the taxi fleet.

But I do not see much future for the GP 1.2 FIRE.

[hybridpetrol]

Originally Posted by vinit.merchant

You will be surprised at the increasing number of Punto's I see in the taxi market.
And believe me, I have seen a lot of increase in the number of yellow plate white Punto Evo's in the last 6 months. Offering them the GP at a cheaper price will only increase the adaptation of it in the taxi fleet.

This is a news to me.
If so, it is a real sorry state. The futuristic design of Punto is loved by many, and as per what you say, even there is a market in the fleet segment, but still Fiat is able to sell only 500 cars a month? (Punto, Avventura, Linea, all put together - 0.25% of the Indian car market)
Of course, Fiat is not into the volume game, but they are not a niche car player either.
With all the R&D that goes into a car, you have to sell something to avoid losses.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

That would be the most optimistic question in a FIAT related thread. Unlike Maruti and Hyundai customers who wait months together for the car, the only waiting at FIAT would be the sales representatives waiting for the customer, and the current lot of owners waiting for the next generation of products.

You missed the waiting-for-spares part. I am still waiting for the rear bumper to arrive from MH, as Mohandas Fiat of Trivadrum does not have one. Thankfully the car is with me and doing her duty.

You also missed the waiting-for-the-car-to-return-from-service part. Even a routine service would take a minimum of 24 hours, if not more. Compared to this, my XUV -with its complexity and size- would get serviced, washed and ready-to-return in 6-8 hours flat.

[neoonwheels]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

You missed the waiting-for-spares part. I am still waiting for the rear bumper to arrive from MH, as Mohandas Fiat of Trivadrum does not have one. Thankfully the car is with me and doing her duty.

You also missed the waiting-for-the-car-to-return-from-service part. Even a routine service would take a minimum of 24 hours, if not more. Compared to this, my XUV -with its complexity and size- would get serviced, washed and ready-to-return in 6-8 hours flat.

In my 10 years of owning a FIAT, I never had to keep my car overnight for service. In fact at times I had to request them to keep the car overnight (Went in for repair work) since I could not pick it up due to other commitments. Am I plain lucky?

[vinodvayyat]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

You missed the waiting-for-spares part. I am still waiting for the rear bumper to arrive from MH, as Mohandas Fiat of Trivadrum does not have one. Thankfully the car is with me and doing her duty.

For my 90HP, Aadya Motors bodyshop folks took less than 4 days to get RHS running board cut-open, weld the new one, remove and replace the RHS door and paint/polish all these.

Maintain a good relation with these folks and they will be nice to you. This is the same case for any brand. My dad's WagonR took equal number of days in order to remove a smaller dent on the door and repaint the same. They messed up the painting and I had to fight them that evening to get it rectified. As long as the car is up and running and is parked at your home, the process will be slow. Wish you all the best and hope you will get the parts soon.

[sandeepmdas]

Originally Posted by Higgs_Boson_i

I have to respectfully disagree with you here! Simply because in Bangalore

Happy to learn that FIAT is improving. Unfortunately I am not living in Bangalore.

If you go through this forum you will see umpteen people who "would love to buy the Fiat but..." and their explanations include too many decals, lack of color choice and trivial things like that.
I personally know a TBHPian who decided not to go for Punto "because" the wiper/headlamp controls are LH-oriented in Punto. I told him this may not be a problem, since I most often drive my Punto in the mornings and the XUV (which has proper RH stacks) in the evenings, but he went for a Swift.

I am not one of those but I am not a Fiat fanboy either. FYI, this is my second Punto, I exchanged my first Punto for the present one, so I guess I am qualified to criticize them. I was a Fiat owner and I am a Fiat owner. Hope that clarifies.

[Higgs_Boson_i]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

Happy to learn that FIAT is improving. Unfortunately I am not living in Bangalore.

If you go through this forum you will see umpteen people who "would love to buy the Fiat but..." and their explanations include too many decals, lack of color choice and trivial things like that.

I am not one of those but I am not a Fiat fanboy either. FYI, this is my second Punto, I exchanged my first Punto for the present one, so I guess I am qualified to criticize them. I was a Fiat owner and I am a Fiat owner. Hope that clarifies.

Well good for you being a FIAT Owner! The reason I made my comment was that you sought to generalize that FIAT service is bad , probably in your particular city (which is why I mentioned Bangalore ) you are having a bad experience rest of us are not as can be seen from multiple responses to your comment.

Of course you have every right to criticize Fiat fanboy or not!!

Cheers!

[RavenAvi]

Motor Octane's sources report via an exclusive scoop that Fiat India has started testing a dual clutch transmission at it's Ranjangaon plant.

The slushboxes in testing phase are the 6-speed C635 MT and the C635 DDCT. These are currently used in cars under the Jeep brand, the Doblo and the 500X.

Our sources reveal that the engine plant at Ranjangaon has begun testing of the six-speed C635 manual and the C635 DDCT dual clutch transmissions. In addition to this, the nine-speed 948TE automatic gearbox will also start testing soon. These gearboxes are currently used in the Jeep Renagade, Jeep Cherokee, Fiat Doblo and Fiat 500X, internationally. In fact, Jeep Cherokee was the first passenger car in the world to utilize a nine-speed gearbox.

It is also learnt that Fiat Chrysler has started to construct new facilities within the plant for vehicle testing. Its expansion also includes setting up new assembly lines and stores.

Motor Octane

[avishar]

This is the same gearbox which is used in the 4C too!

[rusticnomad]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

You missed the waiting-for-spares part. I am still waiting for the rear bumper to arrive from MH, as Mohandas Fiat of Trivadrum does not have one. Thankfully the car is with me and doing her duty.

You also missed the waiting-for-the-car-to-return-from-service part. Even a routine service would take a minimum of 24 hours, if not more. Compared to this, my XUV -with its complexity and size- would get serviced, washed and ready-to-return in 6-8 hours flat.

With just one dealer in my city, Fiat's after sales support has been nothing short of great for my T-Jet. It's good to see their workshop always busy -- servicing around 8 to 10 cars per working day and that's the max that they can take.

One of the best part is replacement under warranty being without a fuss. To quote few experiences:

(1) Rear right door central locking was failing for 5 days -- locked and unlocked -- and on explaining over the phone, I was asked to visit the workshop. Surprisingly, along the way, it started working and I had nothing more to explain on reaching the workshop than what I had done over the phone. The manager just said that they will replace the actuator under warranty and did so without a fuss.

(2) This is the most surprising one. I raised alarm over 5 cross-head screws rusting (rear doors around the lock assembly). Someone from Mumbai (Mr Vasan) flew down, from Mumbai I think, to inspect before being replaced under warranty. I never expected that anyone from FCA would fly down for this small an issue as I had sent photographs to everyone at FCA.

Agreed, there could be issues wrt some spares -- some slow moving ones in particular in some region. For example, roof beading was one which was not available for replacement under warranty. However, the dealer got it from their Bhopal unit in a day and replaced it under warranty -- again without a fuss.

(3) Servicing has never taken more than few hours, and I say this because I stay at the workshop during entire duration. Normally I move in at 10 am and I am out at 3 pm.

Not sure if I am lucky -- but, I have no complains when it comes to serving and support. In fact, I am always requested at workshop not to mark any mails to FCA as they are more than willing to sort out every single issue that I may have. For the time being, no major issues faced as such.

[rsidd]

Fiat India tweeted today about the Panda Cross, which "loves challenges". In response to a question on whether it's coming to India, they say product launches will be announced at the appropriate time.

So is it coming to India? Well, three days earlier they tweeted about the "iconic" 3052cc Fiat Brevetti, which is a little outdated (even by Fiat standards) to launch in India. So maybe not. But still.

[21Archer84]

Not sure if this belongs to this thread. Mods please move to relevant thread.

Found 4 Renegades being imported into India. Wondering if this if by FIAT. Surprised to see it being imported from US, while it's built in Italy. I'm assuming it to be imported by a competitor for benchmarking.