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Old 5th August 2004, 14:06   #1
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Got a call from Shaman that the Fiat Petra Diesel has been launched in Hyderabad, Bangalore and some other Southern cities.

Ex-showroom price is apprx 5.8 lacs for the ELPS version (base version) while the fully loaded is 40,000 more.

Its yet to be launched in Bombay, but the pricing is going to be in the area of 5.4 on-the-road for the base, and 5.8 for the fully loaded.

All in all, a Rs. 70000 premium for the diesel engine. At 63bhp, I expect it to be quite underpowered.

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Old 5th August 2004, 14:41   #2
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Its probably targeted against the indigo diesel. Also it could do well in the taxi segment.
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Old 5th August 2004, 17:01   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]the Fiat Petra Diesel has been launched in Hyderabad, Bangalore and some other Southern cities.
FIAT cars are made in Mumbai so why are they launching it first in the south?
Also, how many ppl know that a car named petra is avaliable in the market? Fiat's website still talks about the Palio and Adventure . No mention of the petra anywhere??? [img]http://www.team-bhp.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/***.gif[/img]
The guys at Fiat should wrtie a book called - how to launch a great car and f**** it up.
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Old 5th August 2004, 17:29   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] (amit @ Aug. 05 2004,15:31)]Also, how many ppl know that a car named petra is avaliable in the market?
Absolutely!!....

Personally i wouldnt even have known about the "petra" if it wasnt for TBHP!!!
Its a brilliant buy for 5L and its just sad that no-one even knows about it!!

sad.
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Old 5th August 2004, 18:13   #5
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Hmm....while the car itself is great, Fiat's quality problems continue.

One of my colleagues in my office just bought the Petra 1 month ago. It has been back to the shop 3 times already. Just today she tells me that the car wouldn't start this morning and the check engine light was on. On calling up the ASC, they told her to leave it and they will come and check it out "sometime".

She had given her car to change the windscreen just 5 days after taking delivery. When she got it back, the rear view mirrow fell off and there was a dent on the bonnet of her new car!

Just when I thought fiat had improved, something like this comes along and makes you think again. Sorry Fiat, no more recomendations from me anymore.

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Old 5th August 2004, 19:29   #6
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I stopped recommending Fiats to people a long time back. The only reason being the pathetic after sales service and high cost of spares. And even the launch of the Petra diesel at a good price wont make me change my mind.
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Old 6th August 2004, 00:50   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]The only reason being the pathetic after sales service and high cost of spares.
On both these fronts FIAT has improved. Service is improving by leaps and bounds and spares are now moderately priced. Read Autocar India August issue for more details.

Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]When she got it back, the rear view mirrow fell off and there was a dent on the bonnet of her new car!
The dent is obviously cuz the dealers bashed the car up somewhere and it must a pretty nasty bash too. Believe me it's not easy to give a dent to fiat cars! Probably they crashed the mirror too and just stuck it back on to escape the owner's anger.



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Old 6th August 2004, 01:22   #8
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yay
atlast the petra has come........
hey gto what do u mean by it has 2 verions......
as far as i noe it was only meant to bet the el version.....
are the prices on road ......
if so i dont mind buying one....
after it has been proven in the market a year down the line.....
btw i saw 3 new petra cars today. ......
u can see the petra ads outside the showroom. ........
maybethe car gt a dent bcoz it was raining very hard .......
i saw someones santro get dented cause of the sting like downpour
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Old 6th August 2004, 12:18   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]Quote
The only reason being the pathetic after sales service and high cost of spares.


On both these fronts FIAT has improved. Service is improving by leaps and bounds and spares are now moderately priced. Read Autocar India August issue for more details.
Amit, I know you keep saying that, and I'm glad you have good things to say about Fiat. I too like their products a lot, but the fact remains that there are jsut too many unsatisfied customers and things are not changing quick enough.

Think about it. My friend here is never gonna buy another Fiat product again , nor is she gonna recommend it to anyone else. This is after just 1 month with a new car! Word of mouth is the best way to sell cars, and on this front, Fiat is failing terribly.

Sure it is a great car, but there is nothing worse than having to take your brand new car back to the shop repeatedly and then getting it back with dents and things falling off.

Rt
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