[_raVan_]

My good friend and also a Bhpian, IronShark, saw new camouflaged Lineas being tested in Pune yesterday. He mentions that even though the rest of the body was covered, the front grille was a give away as to know that those were the face lifted models. No photos though.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by _raVan_

My good friend and also a Bhpian, IronShark, saw new camouflaged Lineas being tested in Pune yesterday. He mentions that even though the rest of the body was covered, the front grille was a give away as to know that those were the face lifted models. No photos though.

Did your friend tell its a new car, or just a facelift?

Your post has confused me a bit. Having body covered should mean its more than a facelift, and the last thing they would do with a facelift is to test it with grill open.

[k_nitin_r]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

Fiat India is a company known to be a laggard. They never take the initiative in bringing anything new.

It seems as though they aren't as serious about selling vehicles in India as one would expect - their focus seems to be on engine licensing and sales to other vehicle manufacturers. Perhaps they don't want to appear as a threat to other vehicle manufacturers while they are making a huge amount on licensing alone... think of it as lots of cash for no effort because of a past achievement. Or maybe they just don't want to take big risks and are satisfied with what they are getting

Originally Posted by fiestarry

They could easily have created a 10-12 lakh SUV on the Linea platform with the 1.6 MJD and beaten or at least competed with the Duster. They could have come up with an MUV like the Ertiga, a mini SUV, a tiny car with the Multiair 2 cylinder and the possibilities are endless.

The micro car segment has little profit. If they could be subsidized by making them tax-exempt like they originally intended to do for electric cars, then there could have been a possibility of getting the segment to take off. The way I see it, the Tata Nano and Bajaj RE60 are ways to build their brand image rather than make profit. The Tata Nano was perhaps an experiment rather than a brand-building exercise because it's hard to tell what people would take up and what they wouldn't. I would have imagined that there was a 30% chance for sidecars to become a popular alternative to cars considering how cheap they are and trailers to become alternatives to sedans with the 4m taxation benefits, but neither really seemed to catch on.

Originally Posted by fiestarry

I wish Fiat's management would offer me a job. I am willing to work for half pay just to help them get it right. Are u listening Fiat?

I'd be willing to work at Fiat for Re.1/-! The thought of getting to be a part of Indian automotive history is very compelling

[_raVan_]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Did your friend tell its a new car, or just a facelift?

Your post has confused me a bit. Having body covered should mean its more than a facelift, and the last thing they would do with a facelift is to test it with grill open.

I guess they are testing the face lifted Linea which was launched in Turkey last year and I believe its the 1.6 MJD. He mentioned that the front grille resembled the one on the Turkey facelift.

[Marauder]

Hopefully there would be an all-new Linea rather than the facelift that is available in Turkey.
Ideally for Fiat(if they want to to sell cars in good numbers)the classic Linea should be the facelifted model that is available abroad and there should be an all new Linea that will fight in the C2 segment.Hopefully there would be more powerful engines like the 1.6MJD etc in the new cars.
Why would people buy the more expensive Linea if there are such minor differences between the two cars?

I think Fiat is working on similar lines as they are saying they will 'launch' the Linea classic in 2014.If it were to be the same car that is available in the market then they would have launched the new Linea and badged the current Linea as the Classic.
Also they say,they are launching a new Punto,so that would also be based on the new Linea unless they launch a facelifted Punto and call the current one Punto classic
Come On Fiat show us something worthy of your name

[julupani]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Hopefully there would be an all-new Linea rather than the facelift that is available in Turkey.

Unfortunately a new Linea will not be brought, because there just isnt one to bring. They will have to develop a whole new car for that, which lets face it is not going to happen.

But the facelift, is more than good enough, as it addresses the major issues of the Linea as a product, ie the engines and the interiors. The engines were just too underpowered and the interior looked pretty dated compared to the rest.

Both the above issues are taken care in the facelift. The new dashboard is quite good looking, and the new engines will be stonking good.

The only doubt as to what the new Linea would include is with regard to the petrol engine. Will they continue to use the same old Tjet engine that is on offer now, or will they bring in the Multi-Air engines on offer in European Puntos. The 105hp Multi Air engine will be a damn good fit for the petrol Linea, and if possible the 130hp Turbo MultiAir should attract the group of customers who really want that extra dollop of power. With petrol engine sales picking up, especially in the Linea's segment, a fuel efficient yet powerful petrol engine is very much needed.

[PAVAN KADAM]

First set of scoop shots courtesy motorbash

[julupani]

This pretty much confirms that the exterior and interior will be like the Turkish ones.

Additionally that "Motorbash" article mentions three test mules being spotted together. Could it be that we will get to see 3 different engines?? Or is it that a auto variant is also being tested and will be launched along with the other improvements??

[rohanjf]

From the photos, it looks like the test car has more than 170 mm of ground clearance. I hope these test cars are only reusing the components from current Linea, and production models will have lower ground clearance that make it a car and not an SUV (for excise duty reasons)!

Originally Posted by julupani

...Or is it that a auto variant is also being tested and will be launched along with the other improvements??

When I had a chance to speak to Mr. Basavanhalli (MD of the new Fiat India company) a few weeks ago, he mentioned clearly that they are not even evaluating launching an automatic transmission in Fiat models in near future.

[julupani]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

From the photos, it looks like the test car has more than 170 mm of ground clearance. I hope these test cars are only reusing the components from current Linea, and production models will have lower ground clearance that make it a car and not an SUV (for excise duty reasons)!

I am afraid they may not, though I hope they will. I say that because recently cars like the SX4 etc which had 170mm+ ground clearance but were actually sedans got specific exemptions from the govt to reduce the duty from 30% to 27%. Thus if FIAT want to retain the high ground clearance, they too should be able to get an exemption.

But like I said I hope they return to a lower setup.

[fiestarry]

FIAT seems to be in a daze most of the time. It has a punch drunk approach to India. What on earth are they doing with more and more iterations of the same two failed models with no changes to the design / engines.
The top brass at FIAT INDIA need mention here. If they can hold onto their jobs with such abysmal sales then they need to be commended for the quality of adhesive they use on their chairs.
They have ruined an absolutely good opportunity by the half hearted approach. Now FIAT is consigned to side lines and will have to struggle to eke out even as late entrants with lesser abilities have made it in India

[zoombiee]

In general there is nothing wrong with the cars that Fiat makes. They seem to stop thinking about what needs to be done once the car sale has been made. The company is completely cut off from it's customers. The after sales support is pathetic. Even local government bodies work more efficiently than FIAT. Spares are not easily available and are sold at ridiculous prices. Maruti cars are definitely not that best, what makes it very enticing for customers is the overall package that they are buying into. Fiat has dropped support for Palios (most spares are now imported which has increased spare prices a lot). What goes to say the same wont happen to Punto's or Linea's 4-5 years down the line?
I dont think that FIAT would be able to sell well even if they had the best car in the market (They had really good cars in the past which they could not sell). The only way for them to grow is to change their focus from just the car to the overall package that they sell to the customers.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by fiestarry

FIAT seems to be in a daze most of the time. It has a punch drunk approach to India. What on earth are they doing with more and more iterations of the same two failed models with no changes to the design / engines.

The 2014 Linea being tested has a refreshed exterior, new interior, as well as an all new diesel engine. The changes are not India specific!

Agreed the company has been sleeping in India all this time, but now -finally it has started showing few signs of life. Why not wait few more days before discarding them as write- off?

[parrys]

Motorbash.com has uploaded a picture of what is supposed to be the Linea facelift heading our way. The international markets received the facelift version last year and now, the camouflaged test mule has been spotted testing in Pune. Fiat also plans to sell the current Linea badged as the Linea Classic, alongside the facelifted variant (as Nissan does with the Micra & the Active).





The facelift version will feature a redesigned front grille, new front bumpers with a different fog lamp housing and a redesigned rear bumper pushing the rear number plate on to the boot lid. One can also notice a set of reflectors on the rear bumpers and by the look of the exhaust pipe, we can assume this was the T-Jet variant on test. The side profile is almost identical to the current Linea, with a bit of chrome thrown in (as seen in the international model).

On the interiors front, the bulged instrument panel is a giveaway that this car will feature the new dashboard and a better looking center console.







There are rumours that the facelift will come equipped with the 1.6L Multijet diesel engine, but we will not comment on that till the time that it is actually launched. We can safely assume that Fiat will offer the T-Jet petrol on the facelift version to attract enthusiasts.

The company sold merely 204 Lineas in July 2013. Also, with the launch of the facelift, a price cut on the current Linea is almost certain.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!