[downsouth]

Originally Posted by drkunaldas

got a call from autoSterling, noida. according to him Linea is getting launched on 25th dec. pricing is approx 8 lacs for petrol model.

When did you get this call? I think it should be something do with a pre-launch booking. I am sure that Fiat India will stick to its Jan 14th Launch.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by drkunaldas

got a call from autoSterling, noida. according to him Linea is getting launched on 25th dec. pricing is approx 8 lacs for petrol model.

The launch date is officially there on the Fiat-India website!

Its on the 14th of January 2009.

[ajnagpur]

Originally Posted by sameel

my friend owns a palio 1.6 its a brilliant car but he says each time he takes it for service he finds it really sad there is no fiat solo dealership. in his opinion the change to tata association hasnt helped much.!!

if this is the case for linea then fiat is in trouble. yes for a car that comes to 7lakhs minimum on the road, good service is do expected and yes dedicated engineers for serious issues. i doubt this will be the case!!

lets wait and see. frankly everyones waiting .

Came across this in one of the blogs:

Fiat to Sell and Service Linea at Select Dealerships

Fiat's Linea which will be launched soon will be sold and serviced at a few premium Tata-Fiat dealerships only according to the source in the company. It has been noticed that the Tata dealerships have been sidelining Fiat sales and service as the volumes are low and Fiat wants Tata to dedicate certain dealerships which would focus on the Linea sedan and the Punto which is also scheduled to launch in 2009. These select dealerships would be specially trained and equipped to sell and service Fiat's premium range of cars and offer better customer service and satisfaction. Fiat knows it cannot distribute cars like the Linea which are going to cost between Rs. 7-9 lakh through all the Tata dealerships and hence this move.

[carfreak]

Originally Posted by sameel

my friend owns a palio 1.6 its a brilliant car but he says each time he takes it for service he finds it really sad there is no fiat solo dealership. in his opinion the change to tata association hasnt helped much.!!

if this is the case for linea then fiat is in trouble. yes for a car that comes to 7lakhs minimum on the road, good service is do expected and yes dedicated engineers for serious issues. i doubt this will be the case!!

lets wait and see. frankly everyones waiting .

I agree!!The shift to tata has not helped much.personally i feel the old tvs mechanics still know how to service the palio better than the tata mechanics

[opendro]

I don't understand. FIAL is a 50-50 joint venture with Tata. So, why would Tata treat a car of their own in step motherly treatment. I would understand if it were just a sale and service partership. But the whole of FIAL is a 50-50 joint venture.

[ajnagpur]

Originally Posted by opendro

I don't understand. FIAL is a 50-50 joint venture with Tata. So, why would Tata treat a car of their own in step motherly treatment. I would understand if it were just a sale and service partership. But the whole of FIAL is a 50-50 joint venture.

I understand TATA cannot do this & will not as they have joint venture but may be its the staff at TATA's showrooms who end up doing this unintentionally.

just guessing if it really happens.

[neoonwheels]

Another reason could be:

Indica Vista (for e.g) giving dealers more margin than Palio multijet. In this case, dealers would be least interested in selling a car with less margin for them.

[FERRO]

I sometimes wonder whether Fiat is run by bunch of fools ?

Why invest in Joint Venture with Tata ?, JV is very good for Tata since they will get the best engines from Fiat and in return Fiat will get stepmother treatment from all Tata dealers and service guys.

In short Tata will see to it that Fiat cars will soon R.I.P.

If Fiat knows one thing better then anyone else it is known
as SELF DESTRUCTION.

[Anthym]

Originally Posted by FERRO

I sometimes wonder whether Fiat is run by bunch of fools ?

Why invest in Joint Venture with Tata ?, JV is very good for Tata since they will get the best engines from Fiat and in return Fiat will get stepmother treatment from all Tata dealers and service guys.

In short Tata will see to it that Fiat cars will soon R.I.P.

If Fiat knows one thing better then anyone else it is known
as SELF DESTRUCTION.

I think it made sense for FIAT to have a JV since they would get access to a well developed After Sales Network across India which manufacturers have today. The others that I can think of right now are Maruti and Hyundai to a certain extent. To manufacture a car is one think, setting up a dealer network and having to provide maintenance services through an after sales service network present its set of challenges. In fact I heard, through the life of a car, manufacturers make more money on the maintenance payments than the actual sticker price.
So A.S.S matters.
i doubt if Fiat would even have a clue of such a step-motherly treatment from TATA A.S.S guys when they got into this JV. This seems to be epidemic considering the number of complaints from Fiat owners that we have heard over a period of time. So this news of Fiat selling the Linea through select dealers was only waiting to happen

[e1t1bet]

The entire "Tata ill-treating Fiat customers" is utter rubbish.
Fiat understands that to effeciently do business in India and in order to enable themselves to adequately gauge puplic reactions and market sentiments, to win the trust of prospective customers and establish a good service network, they needed an Indian partner. Thus, Tata.
I highly doubt that the top guys at Tata asked the service centers to treat Fiat cars as their "step-children". What kind of a stupid conspiracy theory is this? Companies want to make profit. Not invest money in a JV to destroy each other's products.
I have never faced such problems in the service centers that I have been to(Prerna and Greentracks). What you guys are talking about, has to be service station specific.
IMHO, ever since the tie-up, Fiat has actually been doing a lot better. Service has improved 10 folds. Of course, it isn't as good as Maruti's service but expecting that would be unrealistic. At the moment Fiat service is at least at par with GMs(if not better) and clearly better than Ford/Skoda/HM...
Before the 500 launch, when was the last time that Fiat indulged in increasing their brand value?
Also, delaying Linea is a very good move. Of course, they would be losing a few potential customers who are urgently looking for a car. However, the 15th Jan launch can be held at a giant scale. That would help them make the "we're planning big" statement. Of course, these would set an ideal platform for the GP launch. Also, don't forget that if GP is succesful later, Linea sales would go up as well.
Fiat is actually not being myopic at all. They are clearly showing a long term interest in the market.
@FERRO:So according to you, Tata would invest in a JV in order to destroy Fiat's market? Do you know how stupid that sounds? The JV makes perfect sense. It enables Tata to focus their R&D resources fulltime into uplifting/engineering their economic/VFM common man's cars in every segment(Nano, Indica, Indigo,Sumo..). where as the premium-esque cars would be Fiat(Linea,GP...).Their products are in different segments.It is a win-win situation. Tata is here, primarily to make profit.

[karanraheja]

Guys please lets not go way off topic as usual in Linea thread. Lets just stick to Linea instead of Fiat- Tata Venture.

[opendro]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

Guys please lets not go way off topic as usual in Linea thread. Lets just stick to Linea instead of Fiat- Tata Venture.

Are we not allowed to discuss Fiat and its service in Linea thread? Sorry again.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by opendro

Are we not allowed to discuss Fiat and its service in Linea thread? Sorry again.

Buddy , there are already 3 threads for Linea . In every thread we end up discussing of Fiat- Tata and Fiats A.S.S. Im not saying your not allowed but common we have seen enough bashing for that. Kindly take it in the right spirit. Cheers!

[ashok_lat]

Saw the Fiat Lieana testing in Pune - Ahmed Nagar highway on 15th of Dec. One was a grey one and the other was Black and white (camaflaged). Really nice and agressive looking Car

[drkunaldas]

Originally Posted by downsouth

When did you get this call? I think it should be something do with a pre-launch booking. I am sure that Fiat India will stick to its Jan 14th Launch.

he was calling for Vista. But i happened to ask him about Linea. i know Autosterling is getting renovated for Linea. As somebody mentioned in this thread that Linea will be sold from select TATA dealerships only and Autosterling is one of them.