Scoop - FIAT LINEA - Pics on Pg 1 & 5

Tumbler · 27th August 2008, 22:33

Well, if they truly give us interiors like the one seen in the Fascination film at - Fiat Linea -, then it would definitely be a good buy with a 1.3MJD. I see it in the league of Altis and Civic (and not HC which is in Verna and Logan category).

Enough of the crappy plastics. We need a quality car with a quality build and quality interiors. This is the only sure way they will build a good brand reputation, else they can stick to providing engines to GM, Suzuki and TATAs who are already heavily invested in the cheap plastics business.

Nilesh5417 · 28th August 2008, 11:02

I saw a linea (for the zillionth time) near magarpatta in pune last night. The most notable points on the interiors -
1. The rear seat has 3 headrests. Claims to ample room for 3?
2. The instrument console was lit in a dull, boring orange hue that is hardly an improvement over the yellow incandescent light on my getz instrument cluster. Dont expect a high end treatment.
3. The switches or rather what looked more like knobs were lit in the same boring orange.

I couldnt see beige. Seemed all black but test mules are known to be pretty different from production cars.

S_budhiraj · 28th August 2008, 11:05

Fiat is doing all their best, by pricing it right and lookin afte the A.S.S standards..

But, their marketing or launching strategies seems messed, they should be in Killing mode to attack with such a fantastic product..

amit · 28th August 2008, 16:48

The Grande Punto in Europe comes with dual zone automatic climate control (Source: Fiat's UK website). In India, if not the GP, at least the Linea should come with this. Being the first to give this feature in the C+ segment, it will give Fiat something to shout and show off about.

By the way, how much more costlier would dual zone automatic climate control be for car makers over the single zone one? Is cost the only limiting factor or is there something more to it?

freddie · 29th August 2008, 00:16

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumbler

Well, if they truly give us interiors like the one seen in the Fascination film at - Fiat Linea -

Here is the direct link to the Fascination film on the Linea if you would like to download it...

The file format is Flash Video and the size is a little over 11MB

S_budhiraj · 29th August 2008, 13:17

Guys some news about Linea!

yesterday went to Sanya motors for the test drive of the new Indica Vista, asked the sales head about the launch of Linea. As per him they will recieve the car by next week or later by weekend.

Great to hear, so the launch is around!

ranc · 29th August 2008, 13:38

Good here comes some competition for SX4, VERNA, New City, Civic, Carolla, Fiesta, Skoda, Lancer, Cedia to name a few.

I guess I forgot the Optra or the impending Cruze

opendro · 29th August 2008, 14:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_budhiraj

Guys some news about Linea!

yesterday went to Sanya motors for the test drive of the new Indica Vista, asked the sales head about the launch of Linea. As per him they will recieve the car by next week or later by weekend.

Great to hear, so the launch is around!

So pleasing to hear such news. The wait is going to be over soon. The only hope now is that they launch all variants with proper equipments at the same time, not like Indica Vista, launched without some extra equipments that it is supposed to have later.

rajchetan · 29th August 2008, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by S_budhiraj

Guys some news about Linea!

yesterday went to Sanya motors for the test drive of the new Indica Vista, asked the sales head about the launch of Linea. As per him they will recieve the car by next week or later by weekend.

Great to hear, so the launch is around!

Yes i to checked and the news is it that LINEA should hit Showrooms by 3rd week of September LATEST. And also conformed that it will be launched all over the country.

This should already give All other manufactures sleepless nights, who will be hoping for FIAT to repeat their mistakes

.

This time i am sure they will not make any mistakes.

I sincerely hope they do well.

ajnagpur · 31st August 2008, 18:15

In yet another disappointing move, Fiat says it may postpone the launch of both Linea and Grande Punto. Fiat cites too many car launches by other manufacturers for the delay. “We are industrially ready to launch the vehicle (Linea) in September. However, too many launches in the same month has prompted us to rethink,” said a Fiat spokesperson. This move by Fiat will also affect the proposed launch of Grande Punto in December. Fiat will push the launch of Grande punto to early 2009. “We do not want to confuse customers with frequent launches. We thought it is ideal to have a certain interval between consecutive launches,” the spokesperson added.

Whether this move by Fiat will draw flak from waiting customer? Whether the customer would run out of money when the festive season ends? Whether this strategy will work in favour of Fiat?

here is the link: Fiat to delay launch of Linea and Grande Punto | Vicky blog | Indian Automobile blog

Guess we will have to wait for some more time. GP launch is also getting affected because of this.

drkunaldas · 31st August 2008, 23:16

there are so many confusing signals from FIAT. It seems that they are developing cold feet or what? IMO delaying launch of their much awaited products will decrease the confidence of the car buyers in FIAT as also will take away many of the customers, who would have brought their cars. i think this is a very strange and ridiculous argument, which is not going to help there second-coming in this market.

ajnagpur · 1st September 2008, 00:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by drkunaldas

there are so many confusing signals from FIAT. It seems that they are developing cold feet or what? IMO delaying launch of their much awaited products will decrease the confidence of the car buyers in FIAT as also will take away many of the customers, who would have brought their cars. i think this is a very strange and ridiculous argument, which is not going to help there second-coming in this market.

But anyways they have the most exciting & latest products in their bag & if ever the launch is delayed it would not effect IMO.

I have seen Linea without camouflage last week & chased it for almost 10 min. its huge & impressive. I would not mind waiting 1-2 months more if ever its getting delayed.

freddie · 3rd September 2008, 23:24

Confused I am with FIAT India – Firstly, they delay the launch of the Linea by almost over nine months from the original intended date of release. Then as the second slotted date approaches, rumours are flying around of yet another delay. Add to this the earlier indecision of which model to release first, Linea or Grande Punto. Coming from a Company that already has a soiled reputation; it’s not a good ploy or a wise decision. It’s a great marketing strategy to tom-tom about your product and built up the desire towards your products so that the yearning is strong when the product is eventually launched but this is ridiculous.

FIAT India – the yearning is beginning to dwindle – wake up and smell the coffee…

That aside FIAT has always been touting the Linea as a Civic sized car at City prices. Right from day one that has been their main USP. I am sure that since almost all frontline Indian Auto magazines have been harping on this, the initial indication for the same must have originated from FIAT itself. Sadly, I feel this is going to be farthest from the truth and all us Linea enthusiasts are going to be in for a rude shock. Linea at Rs.7 lacs – Ha! – I say this is virtually impossible. Yeah! eventually they will (maybe) offer us the 1.4 Fire 77bHp Active Petrol version, (stripped down and barebones at that) for around Rs.7 lacs and pull the price to above Rs.11.50 lacs for the fully loaded 1.4 16 V T-Jet 120bHp Emotion Linea (that too, one wonders if they would offer all the options that are internationally available even at that price). As Diesel cars are anyway more expensive I am not even going to try and peg a figure on that.

If you are one of those Linea enthusiasts hoping to get the maximum whack for your rupee, I suggest you begin to look at other options. It would be nothing short of a miracle if a fully loaded Linea were to retail for around Rs.9 lacs making it an approximately Rs.10 lac car on-road. Even at Rs.10 lacs it would be way over the estimated price indication given. Of course, if there are people (perhaps) foolish enough to pay Rs.15 lacs for the FIAT 500, I am sure there will be enough people who will dole out Rs.11 – 12 lacs for the Linea. Question is – Are there going to be enough such people buying the Linea to revive FIAT India and is it worth it at that price – I seriously doubt it. At that price a 1368cc engine even with 120bHp seems a burden on the wallet no matter what gizmos they are ready to throw in. Add to that the uncertainty of quality after sales service and the improbability of a fairly decent resale price.

Pricing is a very sensitive and a prime decision making objective (along with fuel efficiency perhaps) in an Indian car buyers mind. General Motors have goofed up on the same several times in the past. The Spark was overpriced and then subjected to a clearance sale once the Hyundai i10 launch was imminent and sales were pathetic. The Forester, Optra and earlier even the Astra have all suffered because they were initially priced too high and later had their prices slashed (the Forester by over Rs.3 lacs), which sent their resale values for a fling. The Vectra was a model that GM would love to forget. Ford did it with the Mondeo amongst others. And even good old Maruti with their Baleno and Wagon R. Hefty price reductions saw the Wagon R recover but the Baleno never quite did. Maruti has learnt from their mistakes and the Swift and SX4 were priced so competitively that they were not only a runaway success but killed and superseded the competition. It’s like; I feel if Hyundai were to reduce the price of their similar specked i10 by Rs.35000 they could kill the Wagon R, which incidentally is the second highest selling car in India after the Alto. Similarly if the Linea is offered at a great price they could wipe out the competition in the C segment and pull customers from the D segment as well.

Increasingly, I am beginning to consider other options and though six months ago I never thought I would say this – new Honda City – here I come… Heck! At Rs.12 lacs – why not the Civic…

I know it’s a huge ask for the Linea to be priced at around Rs.9 lacs, which would make it around Rs.2 lacs cheaper than the similar specked Linea abroad but hey local indigenisation could perhaps facilitate that. Fingers crossed…

I see the Linea as a make or break model for FIAT India and personally I wish them luck on the same. Hope they realize that the ball is in their court and sense prevails.

Sujai · 4th September 2008, 07:56

Today is sept 4th. So according to the rumours soft launch should happen today in Delhi. Lets see

opendro · 4th September 2008, 10:19

I generally find Upcoming cars in India - DriveInside.com to be pretty accurate and upto date. And they have pushed Linea after City, Avante, i20, etc. And it is now in October. Looks official. After some frustration, it is going to be for the good for me, as I would really get to see Avante and i20 diesels. If i20 diesel is a hot hatch, that is what I will go for now.

27th August 2008, 22:33	#301
Tumbler BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 54 Thanked: 66 Times	Fascination film at http://www.fiatlinea.com/main.html Well, if they truly give us interiors like the one seen in the Fascination film at - Fiat Linea -, then it would definitely be a good buy with a 1.3MJD. I see it in the league of Altis and Civic (and not HC which is in Verna and Logan category). Enough of the crappy plastics. We need a quality car with a quality build and quality interiors. This is the only sure way they will build a good brand reputation, else they can stick to providing engines to GM, Suzuki and TATAs who are already heavily invested in the cheap plastics business.
	() Thanks

28th August 2008, 11:02	#302
Nilesh5417 Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2006 Location: Pune Posts: 1,871 Thanked: 2,843 Times	Linea Interiors I saw a linea (for the zillionth time) near magarpatta in pune last night. The most notable points on the interiors - 1. The rear seat has 3 headrests. Claims to ample room for 3? 2. The instrument console was lit in a dull, boring orange hue that is hardly an improvement over the yellow incandescent light on my getz instrument cluster. Dont expect a high end treatment. 3. The switches or rather what looked more like knobs were lit in the same boring orange. I couldnt see beige. Seemed all black but test mules are known to be pretty different from production cars.
	() Thanks

28th August 2008, 11:05	#303
S_budhiraj BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 275 Thanked: Once	Fiat is doing all their best, by pricing it right and lookin afte the A.S.S standards.. But, their marketing or launching strategies seems messed, they should be in Killing mode to attack with such a fantastic product..
	() Thanks

28th August 2008, 16:48	#304
amit Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 3,717 Thanked: 450 Times	The Grande Punto in Europe comes with dual zone automatic climate control (Source: Fiat's UK website). In India, if not the GP, at least the Linea should come with this. Being the first to give this feature in the C+ segment, it will give Fiat something to shout and show off about. By the way, how much more costlier would dual zone automatic climate control be for car makers over the single zone one? Is cost the only limiting factor or is there something more to it?
	() Thanks

29th August 2008, 13:17	#306
S_budhiraj BHPian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Delhi Posts: 275 Thanked: Once	Guys some news about Linea! yesterday went to Sanya motors for the test drive of the new Indica Vista, asked the sales head about the launch of Linea. As per him they will recieve the car by next week or later by weekend. *Great to hear, so the launch is around!*
	() Thanks

29th August 2008, 13:38	#307
ranc BHPian Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Lost somewhere on the Leh Manali hway Posts: 516 Thanked: 14 Times	Good here comes some competition for SX4, VERNA, New City, Civic, Carolla, Fiesta, Skoda, Lancer, Cedia to name a few. I guess I forgot the Optra or the impending Cruze Last edited by ranc : 29th August 2008 at 13:43.
	() Thanks

31st August 2008, 18:15	#310
ajnagpur BHPian Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Nagpur, Pune, Washington DC Posts: 253 Thanked: 145 Times	Fiat to delay launch of Linea and Grande Punto In yet another disappointing move, Fiat says it may postpone the launch of both Linea and Grande Punto. Fiat cites too many car launches by other manufacturers for the delay. “We are industrially ready to launch the vehicle (Linea) in September. However, too many launches in the same month has prompted us to rethink,” said a Fiat spokesperson. This move by Fiat will also affect the proposed launch of Grande Punto in December. Fiat will push the launch of Grande punto to early 2009. “We do not want to confuse customers with frequent launches. We thought it is ideal to have a certain interval between consecutive launches,” the spokesperson added. Whether this move by Fiat will draw flak from waiting customer? Whether the customer would run out of money when the festive season ends? Whether this strategy will work in favour of Fiat? here is the link: Fiat to delay launch of Linea and Grande Punto \| Vicky blog \| Indian Automobile blog Guess we will have to wait for some more time. GP launch is also getting affected because of this.
	() Thanks

31st August 2008, 23:16	#311
drkunaldas BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Noida Posts: 146 Thanked: 21 Times Infractions: 0/2 (10)	there are so many confusing signals from FIAT. It seems that they are developing cold feet or what? IMO delaying launch of their much awaited products will decrease the confidence of the car buyers in FIAT as also will take away many of the customers, who would have brought their cars. i think this is a very strange and ridiculous argument, which is not going to help there second-coming in this market.
	() Thanks

3rd September 2008, 23:24	#313
freddie BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Mumbai Posts: 55 Thanked: 0 Times	Confused I am with FIAT India – Firstly, they delay the launch of the Linea by almost over nine months from the original intended date of release. Then as the second slotted date approaches, rumours are flying around of yet another delay. Add to this the earlier indecision of which model to release first, Linea or Grande Punto. Coming from a Company that already has a soiled reputation; it’s not a good ploy or a wise decision. It’s a great marketing strategy to tom-tom about your product and built up the desire towards your products so that the yearning is strong when the product is eventually launched but this is ridiculous. FIAT India – the yearning is beginning to dwindle – wake up and smell the coffee… That aside FIAT has always been touting the Linea as a Civic sized car at City prices. Right from day one that has been their main USP. I am sure that since almost all frontline Indian Auto magazines have been harping on this, the initial indication for the same must have originated from FIAT itself. Sadly, I feel this is going to be farthest from the truth and all us Linea enthusiasts are going to be in for a rude shock. Linea at Rs.7 lacs – Ha! – I say this is virtually impossible. Yeah! eventually they will (maybe) offer us the 1.4 Fire 77bHp Active Petrol version, (stripped down and barebones at that) for around Rs.7 lacs and pull the price to above Rs.11.50 lacs for the fully loaded 1.4 16 V T-Jet 120bHp Emotion Linea (that too, one wonders if they would offer all the options that are internationally available even at that price). As Diesel cars are anyway more expensive I am not even going to try and peg a figure on that. If you are one of those Linea enthusiasts hoping to get the maximum whack for your rupee, I suggest you begin to look at other options. It would be nothing short of a miracle if a fully loaded Linea were to retail for around Rs.9 lacs making it an approximately Rs.10 lac car on-road. Even at Rs.10 lacs it would be way over the estimated price indication given. Of course, if there are people (perhaps) foolish enough to pay Rs.15 lacs for the FIAT 500, I am sure there will be enough people who will dole out Rs.11 – 12 lacs for the Linea. Question is – Are there going to be enough such people buying the Linea to revive FIAT India and is it worth it at that price – I seriously doubt it. At that price a 1368cc engine even with 120bHp seems a burden on the wallet no matter what gizmos they are ready to throw in. Add to that the uncertainty of quality after sales service and the improbability of a fairly decent resale price. Pricing is a very sensitive and a prime decision making objective (along with fuel efficiency perhaps) in an Indian car buyers mind. General Motors have goofed up on the same several times in the past. The Spark was overpriced and then subjected to a clearance sale once the Hyundai i10 launch was imminent and sales were pathetic. The Forester, Optra and earlier even the Astra have all suffered because they were initially priced too high and later had their prices slashed (the Forester by over Rs.3 lacs), which sent their resale values for a fling. The Vectra was a model that GM would love to forget. Ford did it with the Mondeo amongst others. And even good old Maruti with their Baleno and Wagon R. Hefty price reductions saw the Wagon R recover but the Baleno never quite did. Maruti has learnt from their mistakes and the Swift and SX4 were priced so competitively that they were not only a runaway success but killed and superseded the competition. It’s like; I feel if Hyundai were to reduce the price of their similar specked i10 by Rs.35000 they could kill the Wagon R, which incidentally is the second highest selling car in India after the Alto. Similarly if the Linea is offered at a great price they could wipe out the competition in the C segment and pull customers from the D segment as well. Increasingly, I am beginning to consider other options and though six months ago I never thought I would say this – new Honda City – here I come… Heck! At Rs.12 lacs – why not the Civic… I know it’s a huge ask for the Linea to be priced at around Rs.9 lacs, which would make it around Rs.2 lacs cheaper than the similar specked Linea abroad but hey local indigenisation could perhaps facilitate that. Fingers crossed… I see the Linea as a make or break model for FIAT India and personally I wish them luck on the same. Hope they realize that the ball is in their court and sense prevails.
	() Thanks

4th September 2008, 07:56	#314
Sujai BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 58 Thanked: 0 Times	Today is sept 4th. So according to the rumours soft launch should happen today in Delhi. Lets see
	() Thanks

4th September 2008, 10:19	#315
opendro BHPian Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: NA Posts: 824 Thanked: 109 Times	I generally find Upcoming cars in India - DriveInside.com to be pretty accurate and upto date. And they have pushed Linea after City, Avante, i20, etc. And it is now in October. Looks official. After some frustration, it is going to be for the good for me, as I would really get to see Avante and i20 diesels. If i20 diesel is a hot hatch, that is what I will go for now.
	() Thanks