[AshBabu]

Originally Posted by sriramr9

FIAT badly needs doses of such lavish public portrayal to etch the brand name in customer's mind to inspire confidence in the product.

I believe Fiat has good brand recall in India. It is not as though they are new like Renault or Nissan. They had successful products like Uno, Palio etc. More than establishing their brand, they need to resurrect their ruined image. Which is all the more an enviable task. They have no support structure (after sales and service) in place. After being in a country for so many years and still lacking fundamentals speaks volume of their strategy.

[NFS2024]

[quote=autocrat;3614102]I

They have great cars but they are unable to sell in big numbers,

However, there are a few brilliant and dedicated people (ex. Mr. Mangesh, some dealers like Vecto Motors, service advisers and technicians) who have worked really hard and gone out of their way to keep Fiat customers happy.

Despite all odds, they are still optimistic of a turn around and are working to keep the brand alive /QUOTE]

If you are talking purely from a international market perspective, I somewhat agree to your statements, but not in the Indian context.

Fiat does not have great cars in India today.

Launching the same cars over and over again with the same puny 1.3 engines over a period of what 6 years when the competition has moved away? This must be the biggest joke in the automobile world.

Launching jeep etc when you have opened 100 service centers, instead of mass market selling cars? Do you think the service centers will survive, no ways. Am afraid we will see more Fiat Service centers winding up.

Fiat had great cars once upon a time when they had Palio and Uno to capture market share, not today.

They have lost all to competition in the Indian market.

[Tarrodie]

Car manufacture is just a side business for Fiat in India. If the top person has moved, it may be linked to engine sales which contributes the most to the company's revenue. Either that or he must have got something that is a no-brainer and not moving would have been a bad decision for him.

After all 'Managing Director and President' is the top position in India and it goes without saying that he would not have got a similar global position in the same company so easily without doing something spectacular. Competition is tough at the top. Competition is tough in the Indian market too. All things being considered he made a good decision(for himself).

Don't worry about Fiat India. They're doing well(selling engines) and Fiat fans must be quite happy driving their cars:-).

I don't think too much will change with them either as long as they keep making their diesel engines.

[sriramr9]

Originally Posted by Tarrodie

Don't worry about Fiat India. They're doing well(selling engines) and Fiat fans must be quite happy driving their cars:-)

But that will not be forever. Rivals are fast developing competent and latest gen engines. There are other National Engines as well which is as capable or even better than the Fiat 's 1.3 MJD. So FIAPL should be very careful and wake up.

[namit]

Originally Posted by puchoo

Lets see who arrives now , very little contribution made by Nagesh in my opinion to Fiat , i maybe he had many a grand plans but unfortunately little reflection on the ground. I remember the interview he did with Autocar some months ago - i was very unimpressed by him.

I completely agree with you on this as even I was disappointed with his Interview to Mr. Sorabjee, wherein all his answers were non committal and vague. Especially it seemed as if he is not used to driving FIATs (as he was struggling with the car's gearbox) nor had an passion in his addressal.

The other interview I saw was of the Ford CEO (some foreigner) and he was damn aggressive and clear cut in his plans.

Guys like these who are there at the helm of Fiat not with a flair for Fiats and just doing there jobs can never do justice to Fiat in India. Fiat needs someone really passionate for Fiat to do well in India at their helm.

Not very hopefull for Fiat in India, though.

However, my 4 years 4 months old Punto has clocked 97500 kms and am happy enjoying my drives with her with Fiat surely around in India for the next 2 years. But when the D Day comes for replacing her, then I have no answer but to settle for the second fiddles like either a Ford or a VW.