[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by TheHorse

Also it seems there are 4 variants of Linea
Active
Dynamic
Emotion
Emotion+

Hey Thanks. This seems to be the first good piece of Info we have on the Indian Linea. Do post more info if you ahve about top end versions and price points.

Originally Posted by extreme_torque

No the Linea will be pitted squarely against the Fiesta's and the Verna's and the top end variant might go against the optra diesel. Shhhhhhh... you might also get the 1.9!

ET, 1.9 would be fantastic news, even if its de-tuned a bit. Its gonna be a scorcher. wonder if Linea will be blessed with that. It will give Optra tough time if they launch it.

[spadival]

Dashboard/console is the same as that on Grande Punto. I am not surprised though.

And, There isn't any steering wheel audio control shown in the pic, because there isn't any OE HU on the car pictured !!

Instead, you get a "plastic cover black 808". This is a boon for those who throw out the OE HU and put in a HU of their choice.

[an_and]

Dear all,

Some excerpts of mail from palio user groups........

On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 9:20 AM, vinay_ss <vinay_ss@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> Dear All,
>>
>> Apologies for the short notice sent out to all on trying to fix up a
>> meeting.
>>
>> Unfortunately i could not manage the logistics and timelines though i
>> was trying to coordinate the whole thing on fri.
>>
>> i however, met up Mangesh yesterday for about 2 hours over lunch and
>> the following is the summary of my discussion
>>
>> Linea launch -
>>
>> 1. 2nd stage trial production is on and there would be a "soft
>> launch" - possibly at Delhi around 3/5th of Sept by Fiat's CEO. The
>> commercial launch would be in followed one month later in first week
>> of october.
>>
>> 2. the price point is estimated at honda city range.
>>
>> 3. as we all know there would be both the petrol and mhd engine
>> options and both will have about 3 variants each.
>>
>> 4. There is a group of about 25 italians currently in fiat ranjangaon
>> overseeing the entire logistics and trial production and they would
>> be here till the launch of the car.
>>
>> 5. in fact mangesh's visit to bangalore was to validate the facility
>> at concorde motors, mysore road along with his italian counterparts
>> and to ensure that the service bay's etc are as per the fiat
>> standards before the launch of the linea
>>
>> 6. for those in PUG who are looking for buying the linea, the first
>> few cars would have a very high level of imported components. he has
>> mentioned he will try to work out any help that is required for those
>> of us who are planning to buy the linea. (not sure what kind of help
>> we need - though i must mention that he helped me get my white MJD in
>> 10 days !!! when the sales guy at concorde said normal colors would
>> take 3-4 weeks and white would take about 4-5 weeks. even the sales
>> guy was shocked that i could get my car in 10 days)

[amit]

Originally Posted by spadival

And, There isn't any steering wheel audio control shown in the pic, because there isn't any OE HU on the car pictured !!

With no OE stereo in the base model, this also indicates that the pricing is going to be extremely aggressive .

What's with the beige epidemic spreading in automobiles in our country? Beige seats are an extremely bad idea given our dusty environment. But car buyers love it. Why blame the car manufacturers?

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by an_and

On Sun, Aug 24, 2008 at 9:20 AM, vinay_ss <vinay_ss@yahoo.com>
>> 6. for those in PUG who are looking for buying the linea, the first
>> few cars would have a very high level of imported components.

I thought Linea when launched would have 70% local components.

[freddie]

The pics posted by user TheHorse are for the Active version of the Linea, which is supposedly the lowest end variant and hence it is redundant of all the trimmings – no controls on the steering wheel, no climate control, no stereo, no chrome tidbits to name a few. Hopefully the Emotion+ variant will have it all but then again at the estimated price for this variant of Rs.11 - 12 lacs why not indulge in the truly tried and tested new Toyota Altis (Corolla) – the highest selling car in the world. Just check what the new Corolla has to offer and personally I would not even mind putting in more money to acquire a car that will offer me performance along with peace of mind (read assured quality of after sales service, parts and functioning). Unfortunately I do not have the exact prices on the new Corolla but this morning’s Economic Times (Mumbai edition, page 4) pegs the rates between Rs.10.83 to Rs.12.86 lacs (ex-showroom Delhi). Presumably the automatic transmission variant would be the one costing Rs.12.86 lacs and the higher end manual transmission variant should be around the anticipated price of the Linea Emotion+ variant.

Personally if the Emotion+ is priced around Rs.11 – 12 lacs, I would very highly consider giving it a miss. At Rs.10 lacs I would consider it once the New Honda City has been launched and at Rs.8 - 9 lacs I reckon I would buy it blindly (provided it is the variant we expect it to be – Fully Loaded).

Whether it’s been information that has been given by magazines or intermittently by FIAT India, I am still quite confused as to which segment does FIAT really want to target with the Linea. If it’s Verna, SX4, City etc. they cannot afford to price the Emotion+ at around Rs.11 – 12 lacs and if it’s Corolla, Civic, Octavia, Optra etc. then the Emotion+ just falls short, period. Their best bet would be to try and kill the Verna, SX4, City segment by pricing the Emotion+ at around Rs.9 lacs. That way the Linea would perhaps be the best equipped car in that segment and can whisk customers away. Much like what Maruti did with the Swift and the SX4. Swift with its solid fit & finish, doors that close with a thunk and not a clank, climate control, ABS, Airbags and SX4 adding steering mounted controls etc. to the list. Simple logic - You offer more than the competition at the same or better price. As their strategic partner Tata Motors believes - more car per car.

Besides, if the 1.4 16 V T-Jet 120bHp (or better – more powerful) variant is not launched in India then the Linea is definitely off my list. Without that power try lugging a car that size with say five adults plus luggage in it and you will certainly feel the drag. Try climbing slopes or say the ghats from Mumbai to Pune and you would be better off with a mule.

Wait and watch – been doing it for so long and now some more. Just wish it’s all well worth it in the end.

[amit]

Originally Posted by freddie

Hopefully the Emotion+ variant will have it all but then again at the estimated price for this variant of Rs.11 - 12 lacs why not indulge in the truly tried and tested new Toyota Altis (Corolla) Presumably the automatic transmission variant would be the one costing Rs.12.86 lacs and the higher end manual transmission variant should be around the anticipated price of the Linea Emotion+ variant.

Personally if the Emotion+ is priced around Rs.11 – 12 lacs, I would very highly consider giving it a miss. At Rs.10 lacs I would consider it once the New Honda City has been launched and at Rs.8 - 9 lacs I reckon I would buy it blindly (provided it is the variant we expect it to be – Fully Loaded).

What you forgot is that the top end Linea variant priced around 11-12 lacs would be the MJD. Neither the Civic nor the Corolla offer a diesel option. Of course, they will still outsell the Linea given Indians obsession with anything Japanese is given.

Swift with its solid fit & finish, doors that close with a thunk and not a clank

You are welcome to check out the 'solid build' of my SX4, forget the Swift.

Besides, if the 1.4 16 V T-Jet 120bHp (or better – more powerful) variant is not launched in India then the Linea is definitely off my list.

The T-Jet is not coming on the Linea. At least not yet. Non-Japanese petrol engines don't sell in India. Fiat knows that and it also knows that the diesel is going to be it's bread and butter.

Without that power try lugging a car that size with say five adults plus luggage in it and you will certainly feel the drag. Try climbing slopes or say the ghats from Mumbai to Pune and you would be better off with a mule.

As for climbing slopes, every company does it's R&D and thorough testing of their new cars before launching it in the market. Rest assured, you wouldn't face that problem while driving up ghats. Let's not get ridiculous now!

[shantyrocks]

solid feel of swift????
doors that close with a thunk???
now this is something iv heard for the first time.
my friends swift vdi is 6 months old and it rattles badly.especially the dashboard and boot door area which i heard is a problem in most of the swifts.
my petra after more than 30,000 rattles less than half of the swift!

[elfhelm]

Originally Posted by freddie

Besides, if the 1.4 16 V T-Jet 120bHp (or better – more powerful) variant is not launched in India then the Linea is definitely off my list. Without that power try lugging a car that size with say five adults plus luggage in it and you will certainly feel the drag. Try climbing slopes or say the ghats from Mumbai to Pune and you would be better off with a mule.

Hey atleast wait till the car is released and do a TD on it before passing such damning judgement

[an_and]

This has just appeared an hour ago........

[SIZE=4][COLOR=blue]‘Fiat not postponing launches’ [/COLOR][/SIZE] Mumbai, Sept. 9
Fiat is not postponing the launch of Linea and plans for the car are moving as per the schedule, said a statement from the company in response to a report titled “Fiat may delay launch of Linea, Grande Punto” published in these columns on August 30. The company has always maintained that Linea will be launched between September and December 2008. Other car launches have had no effect on the company’s plan to launch the car. Mr Rajeev K apoor, CEO, Fiat India Automobiles Pvt Ltd, had a few months ago said that Grande Punto would not be launched in December but early next year, said the statement issued by the company spokesperson. —
Our Bureau



The original link:- The Hindu Business Line : ‘Fiat not postponing launches’

[Sujai]

Thats like 3 months duration. So it can get delayed until december and still they can say that its not delayed

[Fountainheader]

Originally Posted by Sujai

Thats like 3 months duration. So it can get delayed until december and still they can say that its not delayed

Smart!

They have "internally" maintained the Sep-Dec timeframe I guess. I remember sites like DriveInside putting up Sep 2008 as the launch date.

[SkyWalker]

Originally Posted by an_and

The company has always maintained that Linea will be launched between September and December 2008.

Now, that's what i call a deadline. They been talking about Linea for 2 years now, and even now they aren't confident about giving a solid date by which they can launch it.

What next? Grand Punto will be launched between Jan and Dec 2009

[opendro]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

Now, that's what i call a deadline. They been talking about Linea for 2 years now, and even now they aren't confident about giving a solid date by which they can launch it.

What next? Grand Punto will be launched between Jan and Dec 2009

I agree, Sep-Dec is a four months period. Now, India is in a festive mood. I'm surprised that they are not interested in letting the prospective buyers be informed of a probable date other than saying Sep-Dec when we are actually already in Sep.

[s0uljah]

Originally Posted by an_and

The company has always maintained that Linea will be launched between September and December 2008.

Atleast they specified 2008