[amit]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

Looking at the state of affairs, I wouldn't dare wait for the Linea.

The situation isn't as bad as it looks. It looks serious because Fiat is keeping quiet and letting rumours take over. In a marriage that's going bad, if the couple has no communication things get worse don't they? That's not hinting at Tata-Fiat but just giving an example of how poor communication can make things look far worse then they actually are.

Fiat needs to give a date or month of launch right now. If they say, 'we are ready to launch the cars today but we have to wait till October to upgrade our dealerships, service areas and to get all our logistics like spares etc in place for the launch simply because we want the post-launch expereince to be flawless for our customers' then I am sure not a single car buyer would hold that or the delay against them.

[sushanthr77]

courtsey: ::ITALIASPEED::

Fiat’s midsize sedan Linea, scheduled to be launched this month, may come in a month later, according to company sources, reports The Hindu Business Line. “We have always maintained that we will launch Linea in the September to December period. We are looking for an appropriate time,” said a Fiat spokesperson.

The reason attributed to the likely postponement of Linea’s launch is that there are too many car launches in September. The company thinks that it is wiser to wait a bit to ensure sufficient customer attention for the launch, according to Fiat officials. Toyota, GM, Ford and Honda are reportedly preparing to launch their products in September, the beginning of the festival season.

“We are industrially ready to launch the vehicle in September. However, too many launches in the same month has prompted us to rethink,” said the spokesperson. After Palio, Linea will be the second locally manufactured Fiat model to be launched in India.

Similarly, the Grande Punto, another to be locally made model from the Fiat stable, which was supposed to be launched in December, will also come late. The company plans to launch the model in the first quarter of 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 said. The company launched Fiat 500 in the second half of July and is planning to launch Linea in the last quarter of this year. Following the Grande Punto launch, the company will introduce Bravo. The Linea, which will be available in 1.3 Multijet diesel engine and 1.4 FIRE petrol engine, is expected to be priced within the Rs 5-7 lakh range.

Fiat India has sold 10 units of Fiat 500, the two-door lifestyle car which is imported as a completely built unit. “We already have 30 bookings, and the next batch of 20 cars will be delivered in 15 days,” said the Fiat spokesperson. The car, primarily targeted at socialites, is priced around Rs 15 lakh and sold in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by amit

Whatever, the reason, Fiat should come out and say it honestly.

huh! Are you not asking for too much? Just because they dont sell in India they should reveal each plans of their in the name of honesty. Buddy thats not the best practice worldwide.

[rranjith_kum]

Fiat should have launched Linea and then perhaps the 500. God knows maybe a brand building strategy ??
The Fiat Punto and Linea have been around the circles for so much time and testing the vehicles or adapting them to the Indian conditions might be the wrong excuses as the unanswered question how long should we wait ?
Why to blame Tata? well the Singur issue may not be the reason as its has got no impact on the company itself directly (launch of Vista and sales and bookings open without any hindrance) then how come tata can become reason for their delay?

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

Just because they dont sell in India they should reveal each plans of their in the name of honesty.

they actually have a plan? hmmm... that's a good start

[chetan]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Hi Chetan

What four cars did you see and where? I see from your avatar info that you're from Bangalore.

Can you please confirm? thanks.

hi ajay i saw the punto , bravo , liena and the 500 ... i was there when those officials from fiat came to inspect the showroom on mysore road.

[k_ajay]

Originally Posted by chetan

hi ajay i saw the punto , bravo , liena and the 500 ... i was there when those officials from fiat came to inspect the showroom on mysore road.

Oh that's cool. When did this happen? Are the cars still around in the Mysore road showroom [concorde, I take]?

If they're still available, I'd be most willing to check out the punto, to see if a wait till Feb 09 would be worth it...

thanks.ak

[JayD]

Why cant they just shut shop and go home?? Useless idiots!!

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by JayD

Why cant they just shut shop and go home?? Useless idiots!!

well they are just waiting for the cars to get old enough to be replaced in the west.... they'll just dump them here then

[amit]

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

huh! Are you not asking for too much? Just because they dont sell in India they should reveal each plans of their in the name of honesty. Buddy thats not the best practice worldwide.

What do mean they shouldn't reveal their plans? The whole of India knows that the Linea is coming. Whats top secret in that?! No-one is asking Fiat to reveal their plan for 2015. As for why they should be honest, look at this thread. Already, a few people have said that they will no longer wait for the Linea because there is no firm date yet. Isn't being honest about a launch date better then losing customers on a car that's yet to be launched? We all know what's Fiat's image in our country. By keeping quiet they are making it worse for themselves.

An article gets published on August 30 and Fiat responds on September 9 and still says nothing concrete! When you are in mid-september, you can't say the car is on track and will be launched between September to December! This is about launching a car not walking down two blocks to the supermarket to buy a loaf of bread that you can say 'I'll go anytime between 3 to 6 to the sueprmarket." Compare Fiat to Toyota who had a countdown clock going for the Altis on their website. Even Honda Thailand had something similar for their new G3HC.

What's worse is it's not like Fiat launches cars with such lethargy worldwide. The GP and 500 were launched with huge fanfare in Europe. Even if they launch the Linea and GP with a quarter of that enthusiasm and glamour, they will have a 3 month waiting list for their cars.

[chetan]

Originally Posted by k_ajay

Oh that's cool. When did this happen? Are the cars still around in the Mysore road showroom [concorde, I take]?

If they're still available, I'd be most willing to check out the punto, to see if a wait till Feb 09 would be worth it...

thanks.ak

this was some time ago , no they're not there now ... It would be worth waiting waiting for punto really , i myself am when it comes out i might sell my 1.6 and buy the punto .

[joecherian]

Is this thread on its way to a natural death ? ET had posted that he had confirmed info on the soft launch of Linea in Italian Embassy. Now that the date has passed,can you please shed some light on your scoop ?

[an_and]

In my opinion, there can only be three reasons why any company is so lax in responding

1. It cares a damn about its customers
2. It is in some kind of internal trouble, to be bothered about what public opinion is
3. It has lousy people on board, who do not understand their function.

Either way you look at it, its a lose-lose proposition for us. We will
a. Never be able to get good service
b. Never know when a model is discontinued, or when will a new one be launched
c. Forever live in the agony of owning an awesome car

[finneyp]

I may agree with you on this:

Originally Posted by an_and

In my opinion, there can only be three reasons why any company is so lax in responding

1. It cares a damn about its customers
2. It is in some kind of internal trouble, to be bothered about what public opinion is
3. It has lousy people on board, who do not understand their function.

But, will not agree on this:

Either way you look at it, its a lose-lose proposition for us. We will
a. Never be able to get good service
b. Never know when a model is discontinued, or when will a new one be launched
c. Forever live in the agony of owning an awesome car

[shortbread]

I think that Fiat themselves know the horrible state their brand in India. The products are great and nobody can take that away from them, but theres far more to being a successful car than just being a good one. There are weaker models doing far greater numbers even after being priced higher than the Palio.

The reasons are known by one and all, Fiat will have to put in a far greater effort to renew their brand image in India to instil belief in us to put down 5-8 lac payments for future models. This will involve a lot more than driving a couple of Scagliettis up and down the country.

It will have to push the Palio range for greater volumes and have more visibility on the road and also far more satisfied customers. The strategy of using the Tata network sould only be thought of as a stop gap measure. With the upcoming launches Tata have up their sleeve eg. Indica variants, Nano, Indicruz, Indigo etc. etc. Fiat will just struggle to get any attention. Wether Mr. Ratan Tata agrees or not Tata is another brand and thus COMPETITION. Fiat should at least think of Individual sales outlets in major cities.

Only after all this should they think of launching the Liena, Punto, Bunty & Bubli. Otherwise these cars no matter how good they are will fade into oblivion.