[Conan]

Originally Posted by prkothan

Just push a light weight car with great mileage Indian public will follow.

Please!!...this is one of the biggest misconceptions in india. That heavier is safer. Offcourse fiat cars are safe, but not because of their weight. The most safest cars on planet earth (F1 cars), weight in at just around 600 kilos.

Fiat india wont shutdown in the near future, but i dont see them getting better or selling more cars.

[Sush]

People who discuss about fiat, its bad ASS etc etc cannot deny the fact that the number of Fiat vehicles on the road is rising. My dad has to replace his aging zen and we are considering Petra. Which other car provides safety, power and ride quality at such a low price. Baleno might be good but its 70-80 K costlier than Petra and so even if Petra gives a little less mileage than Baleno, it will be more than compensated for.

[RX135]

As I wrote in another thread earlier, I would not give very high weightage on getting website up, simply because not even 10-20% car purchases are based on information on website and for entry level cars, not even 5% owners would ever check the website. Being a tech-savvy forum, we do give lot of importance to having functional website, but for Joe user, what is more important is FE, FE, FE and A/S/S, brand image all through mouth-to-mouth publicity.

Fiat is still certainly not out of "red" zone, but at least they are trying to get out it. And why do I think so?
a) New MD, who seems to be conscious on rebuilding media image. Recent price cut on Palio was unheard of before.
b) Infusion of 2bn funds.
c) Talks (at least?) of having new cars in market (like Panda/Idea).
d) Efforts to revamp dealer network.

I would not expect miracle from Mr. Castagna, but in 6-8 months time, we'll surely know the direction.

[Rtech]

Originally Posted by RX135

As I wrote in another thread earlier, I would not give very high weightage on getting website up, simply because not even 10-20% car purchases are based on information on website and for entry level cars, not even 5% owners would ever check the website. Being a tech-savvy forum, we do give lot of importance to having functional website,

Very true. Actually, I don't think I even checked out the Skoda website before buying our car. I probably only logged on after the purchase was made.

[RX135]

Originally Posted by Sush

so even if Petra gives a little less mileage than Baleno, it will be more than compensated for.

Wrong! Petra is equally fuel efficient as Baleno (if not better). Leaving aside V1p3r's Baleno FE, most other Balenos give around 10-11 kmpl in city, which is same with Petra.

[tsk1979]

If they can revamp the dealer network things would be great for customers. Palio is a wonderful car let down by woeful dealers. I guess the company has to be strict with dealers. Another manufacturer cancelled the selling license of a dealer in ludhiana because customers complained about poor service. And that dealership was owned by a company in which the mentioned car maker had a big stake! Imagine fiat cancelling dealership license of a dealer owned by a Fiat company!

I am looking forward to fiat actually pulling up the erring dealers and offering compensation to customers. This will go a long way in building trust, infact a much longer way than adverts and all

[Sush]

Originally Posted by RX135

Wrong! Petra is equally fuel efficient as Baleno (if not better). Leaving aside V1p3r's Baleno FE, most other Balenos give around 10-11 kmpl in city, which is same with Petra.

Thats cool. So, I guess all points favour Petra (atleast for me) .. :-)
Moreover my dad is in Noida and there Petra is cheaper than in Bangalore.

[Buffetfan]

My City Mileage in the Baleno has been 11, 11, 12, 11, 12 till now....(AC On most of time) and the car is Just a month and half old and I drivev with a heavy foot...
I was told at the Service Centre that it should go upto 13-14kmpl once I have done 10K....
Most of the persons have reported 11+ KMPL with many reporting over 12.
More than a couple have reported 17-18 on highway...
A recent ACI study put Baleno Owner reported mileage at 13.17 KMPL versus 13.7 KMPL for NHC.

No....Petra is no way close to Baleno in Mileage...I presume a 20% difference will exist between the two

[RX135]

I don't know (or care) about ACI, I said it based on whatever I have read on T-BHP. I believe, T-BHP would have more comprehensive data than ACI. If your car is giving 11kmpl, then read HemantR's FE with his Adventure. That beast gives him 11kmpl in Pune traffic. Beat that Just kidding. My Petra hovers between 10.5-11.5 most of the times. Least so far is 10kmpl.

[GTO]

As I wrote in another thread earlier, I would not give very high weightage on getting website up, simply because not even 10-20% car purchases are based on information on website and for entry level cars, not even 5% owners would ever check the website. Being a tech-savvy forum, we do give lot of importance to having functional website, but for Joe user, what is more important is FE, FE, FE and A/S/S, brand image all through mouth-to-mouth publicity.

Not having too many potential Indian customers checking out websites is a pretty lame excuse for keeiping a website defunct for 6 months. In the 2005 age - Not having a corporate website is an outright disaster. I am certain that most of us are agreeable that cost is not an issue for Fiat India to have a website. Why dont they then? Commitment? Attention to detail? Lack of direction? Organisational abilities?

One would think that a company that sells 150 - 200 cars a month would be concerned enough to explore the potential of each and every marketing tool available. And a website is not only a sales tool but also a valuable source of information for several other purposes. If a Mr. Amit Shah having a 15 employee company dealing in pharmaceuticals can have a website and realise the value of the same....imagine a global car maker snoozing on an online presence!!

I do ridicule them for not having a website - and the point is...if a company cannot revamp its website in 180 days, how long is it going to take to revamp its dealerships, brand and resultant sales figures? Wake up Fiat and look around....you aint amongst dinosaurs anymore! The market is now so competitive that car makers are sacrificing tooth and blood for that 1% additional marketshare.

@ Sush and others : Dont get the wrong impression, and do spend the time to go through my previous messages. I am a huge supporter of Fiats products - but an equally big critic of their business sense, methodologies and ethics. Having the most fantastic product in its class and yet securing the least number of sales indicates a job terribly done. Make that beyond terrible.

GTO

[sandeepmdas]

ATTENTION GUYS...!

We have a TBHPian (ntomer, whose brand new Getz met with an accident and related possible engine problems, man narrowly escaped) pleading for support here:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7113

The following is the last post from him:
"hey experts, thro some light on it. GTO, samurai, rtech, revtech, speedsatya where are all you guys?"

So IMHO it would be a nice idea if we can stop discussing THIS thread for TODAY and use our synergy to help him out. We can resume discussing about Fiat India's future from tomorrow. Right now only XSailor is supporting him...

PS. I am not in a position to offer him support, simply because I dont have that level of knowldge base available with me (read "because I dont know whats wrong with his car")...

[prkothan]

Weight does matter in terms of Sturdiness, stability if not in safety. If it doesn't matter why all D-segment cars weight more than 1.5 ton.

Fit the palio 1.2 engine in Santro and check the fuel efficiency.

Similarly fit the Wagon-R 1.25engine (available in UK) and check the fuel efficiency.

[RX135]

GTO, I never said that they should not have the website. It is an absolute must these days, but what I am saying is that they don't need it to turn around their fortunes in India. They have to take care of higher priority things before website, viz. launching new model in market, heavy duty media campaign, revamping dealer network. If they can do that, even if they don't have website for next 1 year, it would not matter much.

[hasopi]

Well for all those scary about FIAT's ASS..here is a question? After buying a car..where do you want to drive every weekend...to a distant resort with family or to service station?

btb..99% of Palio does not go to service centre other than routine service...so how does this ASS affect it?

Its a gr8.. car..enjoy..dont worry about ASS..

Also FIAT is 3rd in sales satisfaction as per JD for this year..way to go..


Last..what business logic is it to help flooded customers if FIAT is going to close down now

Atleast they are helping those customers even if they are not doing well..please appreciate it..

[GTO]

They have to take care of higher priority things before website, viz. launching new model in market, heavy duty media campaign, revamping dealer network.

I doubt the person in charge of the website is the same who is in charge of new models and revamping dealerships. Thats why I pointed toward the lack of organisational skills. Or commitment.

btb..99% of Palio does not go to service centre other than routine service...so how does this ASS affect it?

The less said about this statement, the better.

GTO