Team-BHP - Punto to be priced more than Swift/Getz

Today's(8th Feb) Business Standard (Mumbai) has an article on Fiat Punto. It mentions that Punto will be priced above Swift/Getz. Fiat expects sale of 6K to 7k units. Guys what do you think?( Could not get link to web edition)

Even at 6-6.5L Punto is anyday better than Fabia.. I dont think that Punto would be competing against Swift... TATA would like their Indica V3 to compete against them... Punto would be a category ahead of Swift.. But at 6L personally I think Punto is a good buy.. of course with descent trim levels..

This is news to me. The last I hear Punto was starting at 5, and Linea at 6.5.

However this was when Punto was supposed to be launched before Linea this year. Now Linea is launching mid this year and Punto early next year. Obviously they have run into some problems with the launch.

They will have a fair idea of the reception of higher priced hatches by the time they launch so they can make a more informed decision. Our incomes are not rising dramatically, on the contrary lot of IT guys are expecting not go good raises and some even looking at the prospect of paycuts and redundencies. US banks have made cumulative losses of more than 100 billion. This is going to have a massive effect on technology spending and thus Indian IT companies.

If they have limited capacity they may be tempted to go the 'premium pricing' way but that's not very smart, is it?

If they start the stupid pricing path ala GM & Hyundai (in some cases) it will NOT help their recovery plans one bit. The only gainer in that case will be TATA as they'll get the volume segment while Fiat will be left twiddling their thumbs (again).

They have to remember that in our market a product sells well in two cases: 1. If the customer percieves it to be a good product & VFM & 2. If the customer percieves it to be a premium product worthy of flaunting irrespective of the pricing.

We can safely leave out option 2 for now given what has been happening to Fiat over the past few years in our market so the logical route for them to go is to bring out a good product which is also VFM & attracts the customers to the showrooms. Premium pricing will not cut the mustard.

from the web link

Quote:

Although Punto will be available in petrol, a diesel option will also be considered.
....distribution and marketing of all Fiat cars will be the responsibility of the Tatas and Fiat is not expected to make any headway in it. “We will only produce cars and its up to Tata Motors to market them”,...

So does that mean the Punto MJD will not be launched as reported earlier, and will come only in petrol version!!??
If Tata Motors is to market the car, then there is no way the diesel option will be launched before it launches the new Indica with the same Fiat engine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dhaval (Post 715805)

from the web link
So does that mean the Punto MJD will not be launched as reported earlier, and will come only in petrol version!!??

If this news is to believed then its time Fiat packs up their haversack and go back to Italy.

The Swift is the bench mark of the hach segment, the only reason why anyone would want to buy a Fiat hatch is that it is cheaper then the Swift. Hyundai's A.S.S is way ahead of Fiat and the Getz is a very very comfortable, well built car. The Getz Diesel didnot catch up, so there is no chance that the Punto with a Petrol Engine and higher price tag then Swift/Getz is going to sell.

Firstly, G Punto is a premium hatch, it cannot be compared with Swift etc, it will be pitted against the likes of Fabia, Fusion et al.
It is a modern car with a sleek design, jazzy interiors, ABS & Airbags etc, if you need a car like that, you need to shell out 6 - 6.5 lacs, if not, pls stop daydreaming!

Reg the engine options, I am sure they'll first launch the 1.3 MJD and then the petrol options.

Since it is a premium hatch, it will not sell in volumes but cater to a niche market!

Fiat needs one car (Punto or Linea) which would not be priced higher than respective current benchmarks. They need provide VFM in a good enough car. They need to undo stuff they have brought upon them first. They can later talk about Italian design, great engines etc.,
Its such a sorry affair that their website shows non-existent cars in showroom section.

Huh..I don't understand it.

If Fiat cuts price (and cc) of their cars, people crib about selling old cars. Now when Fiat is launching premium car (hatch), people want that car to be priced lower than competition.

If they sell at premium price, their won't be any takers.
If they sell it at lower price, they'll be doing charity and will go out of business .

Either way Fiat is doomed :D