Fiat Diesel Drives India - Fiat’s All-India Drive

ms001 · 28th October 2009, 08:24

Fiat India flagged off a drive called ‘Fiat Diesel Drives India’ today. ‘Fiat Diesel Drives India’ will be taking Fiat’s 4 multijet diesel offerings- the Linea, Grande Punto, Palio and Fiat 500 through testing Indian terrains over a period of a month and a half. This one-of-a-kind journey will traverse through diverse terrains within 16 states in India, clocking over 10,000 kilometers in total. The drive has been aimed at generating awareness about Fiat’s connection with diesel technology.
Through the extensive drive, Fiat will also look to reinforce the presence of their strong and ever growing network across India. Today, the Tata-Fiat network constitutes 99 dealerships and 6 point of sales spanning across 77 cities in the country. All these dealerships have a separate identity for Fiat and offer an international ownership experience for customers.

Fiat?s All-India Drive CarWale.com Blog

Nice, hope it brings in good sales.

arunmur · 28th October 2009, 09:23

They should honestly do this with their petrol engines too.

The FIRE series is actually a bit more superior to the Honda's VTEC. I dont even have to talk about the TJET. TJET is a talked about technology that might revive the sales of petrol cars in Europe, further reducing pollution.

Honda swears by their VTEC and make it look like a super big deal. On the other hand Fiat doesn't even talk about its FIRE series engines.

And IMHO Fiat should once again start have their own service stations atleast.

tortoiseNhare · 28th October 2009, 13:43

Just saw this report in MotorBeam

Fiat Diesels Go On All India Drive

Fiat India has flagged off the Fiat Diesel Drives India roadtrip which will be taking Fiat’s 4 multijet diesel offerings – the Linea, Grande Punto, Palio and Fiat 500 through testing Indian terrains over a period of a month and a half. This one-of-a-kind journey will traverse through diverse terrains within 16 states in India, clocking over 10,000 kilometers in total. The drive has been aimed at generating awareness about Fiat’s rich history in connection with diesel technology as well as their longstanding success in rolling out endurance driven, yet stylish and classy automobiles. Through the extensive drive, Fiat will also look to reinforce the presence of their strong and ever growing network across India.

I hope that it helps to convince Indian buyers about the virtues of Fiat products. Is this the first steps to having a few exclusive Fiat service centres?

Gallant · 28th October 2009, 13:53

Good to know Fiat trying to strengthen it's grip our Indian market. I hope during this drive they will be using different MJT specifications other that 1.3 MJT (Variable and Fixed Geometry Turbines)

ms001 · 28th October 2009, 14:05

i dont they have any other variants of 1.3 Multi jet engine, some higher capacity engines may come in future.

deepakhon · 28th October 2009, 14:09

Maybe, it is a good time to launch their higher capacity engines. They can use this as an exercise to launch the product, as well as showcase its capabilities. A truely one of its kind.

But, Fiat needs to do a lot more than this. For starters, how about making parts for 178 platform vehicles and Uno readily available?

shatrughna · 28th October 2009, 15:10

Fiat had done such India Rally in 2008 when Ferrari cars were the star attractions. They had used new Safari VTT as support vehicles which was launched in Sept 2007. I also read about the IVECO trucks having been used that time. May be they test Manza this time as well as use left over Sumo Grande as support vehicles instead of Safaris. Perhaps there is a tourer sitting in the decision making team in their Product Management dept who loves to tour around.

Otherwise, its just another cosmetic exercise unless they already have great products and good after sales support in place with balanced pricing.

.anshuman · 28th October 2009, 15:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

They should honestly do this with their petrol engines too.

The FIRE series is actually a bit more superior to the Honda's VTEC. I dont even have to talk about the TJET. TJET is a talked about technology that might revive the sales of petrol cars in Europe, further reducing pollution.

Honda swears by their VTEC and make it look like a super big deal. On the other hand Fiat doesn't even talk about its FIRE series engines.

And IMHO Fiat should once again start have their own service stations atleast.

Let facts be facts, Honda VTEC engines are superior to Fiat's FIRE range sold in india anyday, almost everybody who has driven both will agree.

arunmur · 28th October 2009, 15:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Let facts be facts, Honda VTEC engines are superior to Fiat's FIRE range sold in india anyday, almost everybody who has driven both will agree.

I am not talking about the design or build of the engine. But the technology itself.

The FIRE engine can do a lot. They dont use it very well, main reason being low sales(compared to Honda which sells over 70%(est.) cars as petrol).

iceman7 · 28th October 2009, 15:18

Whatever it is, IMO this is an excellent strategic initiative by Fiat India. Given that the participants are auto journalists, this will garner good publicity.

Additionally I think Fiat will be able to do the following with this drive:

1. Go all out and show that they are serious about the Indian market

2. Drive home the point that the National engine doing it's job in an array of diesel powered hatches is infact a Fiat technology

3. Hope to win back peoples confidence in their products

4. Excellent way for marketing of the Fiat brand

Hope this turns out into good results for Fiat India.

.anshuman · 28th October 2009, 15:22

Its a very good effort by Fiat but rather than this kind of events they should improve after sales service and brand image.

Sorry to drag the discussion a bit offtopic.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

I am not talking about the design or build of the engine. But the technology itself.

.

Which specific superior technology are you taking about?

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

The FIRE engine can do a lot. They dont use it very well, main reason being low sales(compared to Honda which sells over 70%(est.) cars as petrol)

Is it on road performance or Sales figures you are talking about?

nitrous · 28th October 2009, 15:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

The FIRE series is actually a bit more superior to the Honda's VTEC. I dont even have to talk about the TJET. TJET is a talked about technology that might revive the sales of petrol cars in Europe, further reducing pollution.

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

Honda swears by their VTEC and make it look like a super big deal. On the other hand Fiat doesn't even talk about its FIRE series engines.

What is FIRE actually?
Variable valve timing, is it??

tortoiseNhare · 28th October 2009, 16:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous

What is FIRE actually?
Variable valve timing, is it??

Fully Integrated Robotised Engine. Dunno whatever it means

.

indivic · 28th October 2009, 16:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by arunmur

I am not talking about the design or build of the engine. But the technology itself.

The FIRE engine can do a lot. They dont use it very well, main reason being low sales(compared to Honda which sells over 70%(est.) cars as petrol).

We are long past VTEC from Honda in India, we have infact i-VTEC now with 2 different implementations - one in Civic (i.e VTEC off is power mode in Civic and VTEC on is economy mode) and one in the other offerings - City, CRV, Accord, Jazz

If we want to compare FIRE to something in HONDA , we need to look at things like cracked con-rod for surface mating (in Civic)

http://asia.vtec.net/Engines/R18A/index.html
Technical Overview of Honda's new R18 i-VTEC Implementation

In the City

Honda L-Series SOHC i-VTEC Engines for the new GD Honda Fit/Jazz

Quote:

Originally Posted by nitrous

What is FIRE actually?
Variable valve timing, is it??

Fully Integrated Robotised Engine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It is only sales speak for a robotised manufacturing process (i.e cheaper to produce).

I personally think that using the diesels was perhaps the best move they could do, letting a number of people know that the 1.3 DDIS in Maruti was actually from their stables and in the process pointing out that they can offer a 90 PS version as well which cannot be offered by MSIL.

singh.amrit · 28th October 2009, 23:08

OT :

The Fiats CEO corner , does seem to attend mails , sent them a general mail about possible engine upgrades and better service and got this reply :

"
Thankyou for writing to us about your feedback.

This is in reference to the email received on the support id.

Your email is important to us.

We do not have any plans for an introduction of any new variant of Linea in the near future. However the product updates are published on our fiat website regularly.

Please let us know which Tata – Fiat Service centers are you refering to so that we can further escalate it to the concerned department.
"

Anyone wants to report any service centers ?

28th October 2009, 08:24	#1
ms001 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: bangalore Posts: 1,003 Thanked: 162 Times	Fiat Diesel Drives India - Fiat’s All-India Drive Fiat India flagged off a drive called ‘Fiat Diesel Drives India’ today. ‘Fiat Diesel Drives India’ will be taking Fiat’s 4 multijet diesel offerings- the Linea, Grande Punto, Palio and Fiat 500 through testing Indian terrains over a period of a month and a half. This one-of-a-kind journey will traverse through diverse terrains within 16 states in India, clocking over 10,000 kilometers in total. The drive has been aimed at generating awareness about Fiat’s connection with diesel technology. Through the extensive drive, Fiat will also look to reinforce the presence of their strong and ever growing network across India. Today, the Tata-Fiat network constitutes 99 dealerships and 6 point of sales spanning across 77 cities in the country. All these dealerships have a separate identity for Fiat and offer an international ownership experience for customers. Fiat?s All-India Drive CarWale.com Blog Nice, hope it brings in good sales.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 09:23	#2
arunmur BHPian Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Bangalore Posts: 156 Thanked: 10 Times	They should honestly do this with their petrol engines too. The FIRE series is actually a bit more superior to the Honda's VTEC. I dont even have to talk about the TJET. TJET is a talked about technology that might revive the sales of petrol cars in Europe, further reducing pollution. Honda swears by their VTEC and make it look like a super big deal. On the other hand Fiat doesn't even talk about its FIRE series engines. And IMHO Fiat should once again start have their own service stations atleast. Last edited by arunmur : 28th October 2009 at 09:25.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 13:43	#3
tortoiseNhare BHPian Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Guwahati Posts: 536 Thanked: 90 Times	Fiat to take their multijets in an all India drive Just saw this report in MotorBeam Fiat Diesels Go On All India Drive Fiat India has flagged off the Fiat Diesel Drives India roadtrip which will be taking Fiat’s 4 multijet diesel offerings – the Linea, Grande Punto, Palio and Fiat 500 through testing Indian terrains over a period of a month and a half. This one-of-a-kind journey will traverse through diverse terrains within 16 states in India, clocking over 10,000 kilometers in total. The drive has been aimed at generating awareness about Fiat’s rich history in connection with diesel technology as well as their longstanding success in rolling out endurance driven, yet stylish and classy automobiles. Through the extensive drive, Fiat will also look to reinforce the presence of their strong and ever growing network across India. I hope that it helps to convince Indian buyers about the virtues of Fiat products. Is this the first steps to having a few exclusive Fiat service centres? Last edited by tortoiseNhare : 28th October 2009 at 13:45.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 13:53	#4
Gallant BHPian Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Gurgaon Posts: 34 Thanked: Once	Good to know Fiat trying to strengthen it's grip our Indian market. I hope during this drive they will be using different MJT specifications other that 1.3 MJT (Variable and Fixed Geometry Turbines)
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 14:05	#5
ms001 Senior - BHPian Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: bangalore Posts: 1,003 Thanked: 162 Times	i dont they have any other variants of 1.3 Multi jet engine, some higher capacity engines may come in future. Last edited by ms001 : 28th October 2009 at 14:18.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 14:09	#6
deepakhon Senior - BHPian Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Bangalore Posts: 1,441 Thanked: 65 Times	Maybe, it is a good time to launch their higher capacity engines. They can use this as an exercise to launch the product, as well as showcase its capabilities. A truely one of its kind. But, Fiat needs to do a lot more than this. For starters, how about making parts for 178 platform vehicles and Uno readily available?
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 15:10	#7
shatrughna BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Mumbai Posts: 894 Thanked: 68 Times	Fiat had done such India Rally in 2008 when Ferrari cars were the star attractions. They had used new Safari VTT as support vehicles which was launched in Sept 2007. I also read about the IVECO trucks having been used that time. May be they test Manza this time as well as use left over Sumo Grande as support vehicles instead of Safaris. Perhaps there is a tourer sitting in the decision making team in their Product Management dept who loves to tour around. Otherwise, its just another cosmetic exercise unless they already have great products and good after sales support in place with balanced pricing. Last edited by shatrughna : 28th October 2009 at 15:12.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 15:18	#10
iceman7 BHPian Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOM \| TLL Posts: 751 Thanked: 469 Times	Whatever it is, IMO this is an excellent strategic initiative by Fiat India. Given that the participants are auto journalists, this will garner good publicity. Additionally I think Fiat will be able to do the following with this drive: 1. Go all out and show that they are serious about the Indian market 2. Drive home the point that the National engine doing it's job in an array of diesel powered hatches is infact a Fiat technology 3. Hope to win back peoples confidence in their products 4. Excellent way for marketing of the Fiat brand Hope this turns out into good results for Fiat India.
	() Thanks

28th October 2009, 23:08	#15
singh.amrit BHPian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Lucknow Posts: 106 Thanked: 0 Times	OT : The Fiats CEO corner , does seem to attend mails , sent them a general mail about possible engine upgrades and better service and got this reply : " Thankyou for writing to us about your feedback. This is in reference to the email received on the support id. Your email is important to us. We do not have any plans for an introduction of any new variant of Linea in the near future. However the product updates are published on our fiat website regularly. Please let us know which Tata – Fiat Service centers are you refering to so that we can further escalate it to the concerned department. " Anyone wants to report any service centers ?
	() Thanks