[sbhalkikar]

I recentely bought a Palio 1.2 NV ELX. The car is really nice. Spacious, good power, very comfortable and great looks.

If you compare it with Zen (My father owns it), it's like driving a car in a different segment. And not much price difference. It loses in fuel efficiency though(15 of Zen to 12 Palio in city)

But if you observe, you see a lot of Zens, Santro and Indica on the road but very few Palio's.

Isnt Palio a better car in this segment? If yes then why sales are not picking up?

Sometimes I worry that Fiat will close operations in India altogether.

[satish_appasani]

The poor sales of Palio is not because of car but it's all about bad repuation about Fiat ###, dealers and the manufacturer them selves.

[lamborghini]

hey guys
the good news is that the sales are rising
slowly but still on a rise
lets wait and see
besides when the new palio comes with new interiors it will go back there on the top

[shravan316]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (lamborghini @ Nov. 24 2004,19:30)]hey guys
the good news is that the sales are rising
slowly but still on a rise
lets wait and see
besides when the new palio comes with new interiors it will go back there on the top

great news, but, i still feel that the new Palio isn't as good-looking as the present gen Palio. what say guys??

[merve_extreme]

the palio is the best looking of the lot.i have a 1.6GTX and it drives and sounds like a sports car.i have seen many Snatros and zens trying to challange it on the highway in vain.the problem is FIAT india is not bothered to make people aware of the FIAT brandname,what it is in the worldmarket and so the poor sales.the economy is less i agree but it is due to more weight.it has its advantages,solid handling and see after an accident then u will realise if small eco advantage or life is better.

[amit]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Isnt Palio a better car in this segment?

Yes it is.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]If yes then why sales are not picking up?

Because people have a very biased idea and pre-concieved notions about Fiat. Tell anyone you are planning to buy a Fiat and they look at you like you are going to commit suicide. In a way, Fiat are themselves to blame for this mess. They didn't bother with After Sales service, Good and wide dealer network and they failed to tell the customers about their product and it's advantages. Did you ever read anywhere the company trying to position the 1.2 and 1.6 differently? Probably, they thought that people here will do research and buy the cars knowing what it's gonna give them like in Europe. Even people now are to be blamed. Everyone believed about Fiat's After sales and poor Palio Mileage but now that they are improving both these things, people ignore these things. I guess, we indians just love disaster stories.

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]the good news is that the sales are rising
slowly but still on a rise

hey lambo, what makes you think sales are rising? Do you have any figures with you to second that cuz i feel sales are falling every month.

[dipen]

I think the sales are falling
Even with the price cut , Petra hasnt found many takers
and I hardly see any new (NV ) palios.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Because people have a very biased idea and pre-concieved notions about Fiat.

Yes, but this bias is based on facts. I know a handful of you have had good experiences with the dealers/service stations, but the majority have not. Fiats ### sucks. I probably would not care about it since I love the Petra so much...but then not everyone is so knowledgeable about cars to take care of the service aspect themselves.

Also keep in mind that its not like the Fiat Palio never had a chance. Sales after launch were right up there in the top 10 best sellers of India (Surprised?). It used to do 3000+ units a month once upon a time in India and Fiat had more bookings than they could handle. Fiat goofed up...plain and simple. What adds salt to the wound is that I still dont see too much proactiveness from their end.

GTO

[deepakhon]

now comes another news. surprise surprise!!!! fiat is planning to team up with ashok leyland in india. they are planning to share the dealer network(?) and some factories. well, now i am wondering whether fiat is planning to manufacture some trucks or what! of all ppl why ashok leyland? it beats me! i guess they shud have actually aligned with suzuki and gm in india. just imagine a car like palio and service like maruti! would have just taken hyundai out of india.

i own a palio 1.2 nv elx too and believe me, this is the best car you can get in b+ segment.

hope fiat realises very soon that the problem is not with the product, but with its overall image and that of the dealers. they can kick off all these dealers and start afresh. this will atleast bring some fresh life for fiat. if they can bring all those products like panda, idea and the ones from alfa romeo stable, i guess it will be great. in my opinion, consolidation and new product launches should go hand in hand.

[lamborghini]

hey guys
i agree with merve_extreme
hardly anyone noes about the legendary palio 1.6
hell was in a big argument with my fiend who claimed his 4 of hjis cars were faster then my palio
really showed him the next day

[johnjacob]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (deepakhon @ Nov. 25 2004,10:39)]i guess they shud have actually aligned with suzuki and gm in india. just imagine a car like palio and service like maruti! would have just taken hyundai out of india.

I have often wondered the same thing. Since GM part-owns both Suzuki and Fiat why couldn't they bring the dealership networks of all four brands (Chevy, Opel, Fiat and Maruti/Suzuki) under one roof? This would mean less initial cost to setup a dealership network, more competition between dealers, economies of scale and they could easily give underperforming dealers the boot. And they would end up selling more cars, totally.

[lamborghini]

err.
i dont think gm owns fiat
someone please correct me

[deepakhon]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (lamborghini @ Nov. 26 2004,14:39)]err.
i dont think gm owns fiat
someone please correct me

gm owns part of fiat (i guess it is b'ween 5 and 10% currently). if i understand it correctly, there is a clause in the agreement b'ween gm and fiat that gm can buy fiat auto before apr 2005 if it wants to. but it looks like the net worth of fiat has increased (i.e. fiat has cut its losses courtesy good sales of panda) and because of that, gm's share in fiat has come down to below 10% from 20%. fiat obviously does not want gm to take it over and gm feels that just having <10% share is not paying it much. the negotiations are still on i guess.

i am definitely no economics guy and this is what i understand on the deal. please correct me if i am wrong.

[johnjacob]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (deepakhon @ Nov. 26 2004,14:49)]gm owns part of fiat (i guess it is b'ween 5 and 10% currently). if i understand it correctly, there is a clause in the agreement b'ween gm and fiat that gm can buy fiat auto before apr 2005 if it wants to. but it looks like the net worth of fiat has increased (i.e. fiat has cut its losses courtesy good sales of panda) and because of that, gm's share in fiat has come down to below 10% from 20%. fiat obviously does not want gm to take it over and gm feels that just having <10% share is not paying it much. the negotiations are still on i guess.

i am definitely no economics guy and this is what i understand on the deal. please correct me if i am wrong.

Yeah, it's something like that... GM owns part of Fiat, and have a "put option" which would allow them to buy out the whole company in 2005 if they want to... but this is being contested in court.

Besides, GM and Fiat already collaborate on platforms and stuff. The premium platform that is planned for use in the next generation Opels, Saabs and Alfa Romeos is being co-designed by GM and Fiat.

[satish_appasani]

Height of sales ignorance...

Is Fiat planning to bundle out of India? I tried to check their site Fiat India and it shows
The Fiat-India site is currently Non-Functional due to Non-Payment since more than 1 Year.
They are unable to afford to pay for their web site.