[taurian2804]

Nothing wrong with Linea and Punto but it seems FIAT has been riding on TATA's back for a long time now. Zero independent dealerships have failed to inspire confidence among potential FIAT customers. Time to do a reality check for FIAT !!

[SkyWalker]

No numbers for Superb there, but considering that they are claiming outperform, we can assume Accord's loss is Superb's gain.

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by Sudan_NFS

Mumbai, December 01, 2009: ŠkodaAuto India, a fully owned subsidiary of ŠkodaAuto a.s., Czech Republic, today announced a record growth of 183 % in sales for the month of November 2009 over November 2008. ŠkodaAuto India’s total sales for November 2009 stood at 1425 units as against 504 units in November, 2008.

Speaking on the increase in sales figures for the month of November, Mr. Thomas Kuehl, Board
Member, Sales and Marketing, SkodaAuto India said “We have witnessed a record growth of
183% in sales for the month of November 2009 over 2008 and a double-digit jump of 93% in sales in
the last 3 months (September – November) over the same period last year. The launch of the all new
Skoda Superb and the new Laura in the Indian markets has been the main drivers behind SkodaAuto
India’s record increase in sales. The all new Superb, in particular, continues to outperform
expectations.
Adding on Mr. Thomas Kuehl said “We are considering a price hike between Rs.10,000/- to
Rs.20,000/-on all our cars in the coming month. This rise is being considered due to various
Inflationary pressures and increase in raw material costs.”
Mr. Ashutosh Dixit, Sr. General Manager, Sales & Marketing, SkodaAuto India said “We are
pleased to see such robust growth for all our products, which reflects the customer’s growing
confidence in Skoda. We are expecting a much stronger response to our products and services and
help drive growth in our sales in the coming months.

Source : Skoda India

There is no mention of the Skoda Fabia, where does that leave the Fabia ?

What is its Fate ?

[AnonymousCoward]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

Fiat's not doing so great. The total (from Tata's release) was 1965. Thats down from ~2200 last month.

That's pitiful performance for Fiat with cars that have a feature list running several pages and priced significantly lower than the Hondas' and the Hyundais'. After the initial euphoria (350% growth?), seems like it is now going down the hill.

Can the much touted higher-spec engine that will come with an unavoidable price increase reverse this trend?

If it is of any comfort, may be the season (Nov-Dec) is contributing to the downslide a bit?

[naveenvenkatesh]

Fiat has only itself to blame here. It took the easy way out by tying up with Tata for after sales support. It was good in the beginning, but the results will be visible only after owners start coming out with their feedback. If whats happened so far is any indication, the tie up clearly is not working for Fiat!!

[gupta_chd]

Originally Posted by sharma_sanjeevi

There is no mention of the Skoda Fabia, where does that leave the Fabia ?

What is its Fate ?

They have just mentioned the superb and laura because they have been refreshed recently and are driving the growth. Even the Octavia is nowhere mentioned. I dont think they have any new plans for both Octavia and Fabia other than to may be discount the prices which is already done for Fabia

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by naveenvenkatesh

Fiat has only itself to blame here. It took the easy way out by tying up with Tata for after sales support. It was good in the beginning, but the results will be visible only after owners start coming out with their feedback. If whats happened so far is any indication, the tie up clearly is not working for Fiat!!

The time when FIAT had this tie up with TATA they were not having enough funds to setup their own Service Network. Now after Manza's launch they are feeling the heat, hope the New Engines which are coming up the 1.6 MJD & Tjet does decent numbers for them.

Originally Posted by gupta_chd

They have just mentioned the superb and laura because they have been refreshed recently and are driving the growth. Even the Octavia is nowhere mentioned. I dont think they have any new plans for both Octavia and Fabia other than to may be discount the prices which is already done for Fabia

So it is good bye time for the Fabia jokes apart, they really should plonk new and powerful eingines in the Fabia, earlier there were talks of the 1.9 Tdi engine in the Fabia, but now news after that. I think they have put their plans for Fabia on the Backburner.

[iTwenty]

From today's TOI:

"Car sales are on fire. Riding on a low base and softer interest rate regime, companies reported a doubledigit jump in volumes in November. Maruti Suzuki said its November sales grew 60% at 76,359 units against 47,704 units in the same month last year. The company’s portfolio of small cars— Alto, Wagon-R, Estilo, Ritz, Swift and A-Star—saw sales going up 60% to 56,005 units (34,976). “The domestic sales growth in November is calculated on a low base of November 2008 when the industry was in the middle of the worst-ever slowdown. Compared to November 2007 (65,216 units), Maruti Suzuki’s domestic sales have grown 17.1%,’’ the company said.
The global economic recession had hit Indian auto industry around this time last year. While car sales had crashed by 19% in November 2008, sales of motorcycles fell around 20%.Hyundai also had a good growth as its domestic sales shot up by 93% at 28,162 units against 14,605 units in November last year. Exports fell around 5% at 27,103 units as compared to 28,414 units last November.
Tata/Fiat joint venture witnessed 55% rise in sales at 22,671 units against 14,612 units in the same month last year. Tata’s sales in the month stood at 20,706 units (14,327) while Fiat’s numbers were 1,965 units (285). “The growth this year has come over low sales in November 2008 (which was) impacted by the downturn in the automobile industry during that period,’’ Tata Motors said.
General Motors said November sales were up 65% at 7,118 units against 4,307 units in November last year. The company said its new sedan Cruze sold 518 units, while the entry-level Spark provided the bulk at 4,202 units. For luxury carmaker Honda, the numbers were near flat as sales grew 2% at 5,125 units against 5,025 units in the same month last year. Utility vehicle maker Mahindra’s sales were up 102% at 15,193 units against 7,523 units. The company got higher numbers from the addition of Xylo to its portfolio. "

Only 2% growth for Honda compared to Nov '08.!

[ACM]

[quote=aparth;1610944]

Originally Posted by SkyWalker

hmmm... i don't think its that simple. Honda will have a problem since Civic which used to to 1500+ is now languishing in 500s. Honda will also have an ego issue because at one time, they used to be #1 across the board in City, Civic & Accord range.
Actually its good - now Honda will price its products a bit more realistically!
Let's hope so!

Yep there are only going to be goo positive news for us. Honda cars are good, but specked poorly for our markets. Honda will be forced to add more features and price better.

Originally Posted by AMATMO

are you kiddin wats so great about the VW badge? wats the point in owning a marque dintinctly known to cater low end market
come on you cant show off VW badge
jetta is certainly not a better package compared to altis or civic
VW is jus exploiting indian's ignorance

VW is a better (read premium) brand than Skoda or Honda worldwide.
In India if we can show off the Skoda and even the honda badge then the VW badge definately can be shown off.

VW let us remember owns Audi and skoda the technology and parts are the same.

Originally Posted by aparth

Well in India, people show off the 'Honda' or the 'Skoda' badge and internationally who considers Skoda or Honda a luxury brand? And AFAIK, VW has a better image then Skoda and Honda all over the world.
So, I dont understand why you cant show off a VW badge(in india).
And Honda, Toyota, Skoda, etc. are also known to cater to a low end market.
I mean look at the corolla, its like the Maruti 800 of the world (no offense to any corolla owners) but here its a luxury car.

Agreed, but today toyota and honda are slowly being known as the most reliable cars as well, (with the decline of german quality)

Originally Posted by twinblades

One must keep in mind the amount of money that people put in to buy a car in India. A guy with a Skoda could very well buy a Mercedes in another country.

Yep very true a Laura in India cost more than an E-Class Merc in the USA.

As far as the point about Fiat that is going on - I believe the decision to go with TATA is correct, they just can't get a better service network for themselves by themselves.

They just need to add more powerful variant of their cars, and keep the marketing campaign going on for some more time.

[twinblades]

I wish it was possible to see where the sales of a particular model is concentrated. The reason I thought of this is because the sales figures of the GPs does not look so great however I do see at least 2 to 3 GPs a day now in Bangalore on my way to office and back.

[Berj79]

Originally Posted by AMATMO

are you kiddin wats so great about the VW badge? wats the point in owning a marque dintinctly known to cater low end market
come on you cant show off VW badge
jetta is certainly not a better package compared to altis or civic
VW is jus exploiting indian's ignorance

dude you have very less knowledge in cars for sure, you are trying to say jetta is not as good as civic & altis?? have u ever driven a german car bro? Do u know who is the biggest car manufacturer in the World? Baaam Its VW hahaha i dont know what made u say they cater to lower market just cant stop laughing
cheers..

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Berj79

dude you have very less knowledge in cars for sure, you are trying to say jetta is not as good as civic & altis?

I don't know about VW's image in India. But I have spent nearly a decade in US where Jetta was never considered equal to Civic or Corolla. The A.S.S of VW was considered to be pretty bad. I had considered the Jetta about 10 years back since I liked the looks, but the service and reliablity aspect scared me away. However, the Jetta and the GTI enjoyed a niche following of fans who would buy VW despite all the bad rap about service. Not very different than Fiat in India. Anyway, my view is outdated since I returned almost 6 years back.

[Pragmites]

Originally Posted by twinblades

I wish it was possible to see where the sales of a particular model is concentrated. The reason I thought of this is because the sales figures of the GPs does not look so great however I do see at least 2 to 3 GPs a day now in Bangalore on my way to office and back.

I second that observation. In fact I am also seeing an increasing number of Puntos (and Lineas) on the road in Pune but it does not seem to reflect in the sales numbers. On the other hand, do not see 5 times the number of ANHCs compared to Linea, though definitely see I20s all over the place.

[aparth]

Originally Posted by Pragmites

I second that observation. In fact I am also seeing an increasing number of Puntos (and Lineas) on the road in Pune but it does not seem to reflect in the sales numbers. On the other hand, do not see 5 times the number of ANHCs compared to Linea, though definitely see I20s all over the place.

You're saying that you see more Lineas than ANHCs? .
On the other hand every fourth or fifth car i see is either an ANHC or NHC and yesI20s can be seen around a lot now.

[KITE RUNNER]

Originally Posted by Berj79

dude you have very less knowledge in cars for sure, you are trying to say jetta is not as good as civic & altis?? have u ever driven a german car bro? Do u know who is the biggest car manufacturer in the World? Baaam Its VW hahaha i dont know what made u say they cater to lower market just cant stop laughing
cheers..

For Engine refinement, ride quality, comfort & features VW JETTA is way behind Corolla Altis & Civic. I don't have much idea about Cruze

Being German & the biggest manufacturer doesn't mean that Indians should adore and buy any crap VW dumps in our market, that too with an inflated price tag.