[esteem_lover]

Yeah, thats right. many folks here in india are familiar with the 'benz', not the bmw, probably because we had those 'benz' buses those days & all the movie stars used to own 'benz' cars

[2L8uLoose]

The Overdrive Car of the Year was announced lastnight and the top honour went to the Hyundai Verna.

[vcash]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

In the rurals... people dont realy understand BMW... But, from what i've seen, even in rural areas, people knows the respect the Merc demands...

But... I'd agree that persons who know a thing or two on cars... BMW has an almost equal status as a Merc (Cant say same about Audi though!)

You hit it on the head. To a more sophisticated pallate - there is virtually no difference between the 2 brands - it just boils down to a preference - drivers car or chauffered ride. But to the average consumer that is less educated about brand equity et all. - the Bimmer will never get the same respect as the 3 pointed star. Atleast in India.

Case in point - The largest numbers of MBs sold in India as of today is in the state of Punjab where most income comes from agriculture - the residents of punjab are loaded and most of them are probably educated - but from a marketing perspective they have been exposed to a few popular luxury brands. To them a Pajero is probably equal or better than say a Audi Q7. I know I am stereotyping here - but honestly when you read in the papers that some land owner in Gurgaon didnt have a penny to his name and is now worth 16 crores because a BPO bought his land and is now spending money by the lakhs - he goes out and buys a Merc over any other ride cause thats what "Bada Sahibs and Bada Babus' ride.

[maxbhp]

I am sure 2007 is going to be one great year for us . We are going to witness one of the best auto fights in the history of India . Mahindra is also a strong contender if Logan hits the sweet spot on pricing. But any way MAruti seems kinda indestructibile right now.

• Monthly sales of around 45000+ units
• Swift Diesel and New Baleno may even make the dominance go stronger if priced rightly
• The entry level Alto seems to have no competetion and feels like no one can ever compete to its level of easy on maintenece feel.
• 1.3 Multi Jet in the hands of Maruti is like giving PETE SAMPRAS/ROGER FEDERER a Wilson ProStaff .
• Fiat can to an extent fight back with the Palio and Punto to a sales around 15000+ a month but 45000+ ... TATA 1 lac-ie may succeed selling more than that if launched ever for 1Lac INR !

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by maxbhp

[*]Fiat can to an extent fight back with the Palio and Punto to a sales around 15000+ a month but 45000+ ... TATA 1 lac-ie may succeed selling more than that if launched ever for 1Lac INR !

You gotta be kidding!!! Fiat selling 15000+ (let's forget 45000+) a month? Only if we can order them online. Not even Indica sells that much. Besides, don't they need dealers to sell cars, and they have very few dealers. Between Apr-Oct 2006 they sold only 1400 Fiat cars, that's barely 250 cars a month.

[maxbhp]

Originally Posted by Samurai

You gotta be kidding!!! Fiat selling 15000+ (let's forget 45000+) a month? Only if we can order them online. Not even Indica sells that much. Besides, don't they need dealers to sell cars, and they have very few dealers. Between Apr-Oct 2006 they sold only 1400 Fiat cars, that's barely 250 cars a month.

• You know and I know and everyone knows why they aren't selling right now . I know many many many people who have restrained themselves from buying Paio coz of the same reason . Indica would have never been in the position had Fiat taken care of their root trouble.
• By 15000 I mean combined sales . Since they are planning to launch couple of new cars + since they have seriously decided on pumping money I think they are going to spruce up customer relation plus service etc . IF a santro can sell 12000 units a month , Palio given the right amount of support can easily do 9000 , and Grand punto at 5-6 lacs can take another 4000+ a month , and 2000+ if Linea materialises so its 9 + 4 + 2 K = 15 K a month which isnt too optimistic . Yes , I do agree that they have a herculian task of gaining back customer confidence . IF they intend to be a long term player am sure they are going to do something to rectify it after all they are one of the Worlds best small car manufacturer . IF nothing works out , they better call Mr.Subbu to sort out the trouble.