[GTO]

The Linea is VFM even with a marginal price hike. However, hiking the price of the Punto is a BIG no-no! The market isn't ready to accept a premium-priced hatch from Fiat, as the sales already show.

[hpzone]

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by hpzone

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

The answer is simple. The three things you mentioned about Punto makes no sense to majority of the people! People consider "resale value" as one of the deal breaking factor before even buying a car! And A.S.S is all that meters for most of the people.

[brar.arsh]

Originally Posted by hpzone

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

I dont think Punto has failed, its doing good if not the best for which it was designed for.

[nurni76]

Originally Posted by hpzone

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

And I can't understand why Swift is not a success in Europe while it is a runaway success in India. You cannot succeed unless you have the ears to the ground. In other words if you are looking at being a mass player, you need to cater to the demands of majority in India and as you may know ride and handling are not all that important to an average Indian compared to good A**.

[Mr_Bean]

Originally Posted by finneyp

Even 5 - 6 years back people were predicting the doom of Fiat!
On this forum itself someone created a thread predicting the same, but...

I don't understand, if Fiat raises its car prices (for genuine reasons), all hell breaks loose & it is doomed, but it is absolutely fine if other car makers hike the prices!

Agree with what you say, if Honda/Toyota raise prices everyone says "you pay for the brand"

[Amartya]

I have to agree that Fiat has actually done well to not price their products out of the game. They didn't have the luxury of aiming for profits from day1 because of the earlier debacles.

Slowly but surely with more cars on the road, they'll carve a niche out for themselves and the price increments won't hurt that much.

[theEnd]

Originally Posted by hpzone

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

The Indian Fiat Grande Punto is not a hot hatch. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The engines offered are anaemic. The fastest version is slower than the Fiat Palio from 10 years ago.

The reason this car has been somewhat successful in Europe is that they offer it with powerful engines (like the 1.4 TJet). And thats even before you start considering the Abarth version.

Of course India is a completely different market. Fiat's poor performance here is mostly because of poor after sales service. They should dump Tata as soon as possible and set up their own dealer and servicing network.

[navan49]

Originally Posted by hpzone

I still don't understand why a hot hatch like Punto failed in the Indian market.
There are not many cars with such a good build qauality, features and riding/handling in the sub 10L segment.
But it is a runaway sucess in europe.

Hi

It is the price. I gave up for the reasons of price,After sales service and The resale value. Any Maruti car, no problem with MASS and Sell it like a hot cake like one of our member sold the Swift after 2L kms above 3 L. Already a big price for Punto and if they increase they dig the pit for themselves in India.

[autogeek]

Time to hit the brakes, people!
Before this turns out to be just another FIAT thread

[Delta Wing]

The price hike still does not make the Linea an expensive product compared to other cars in segment. Punto, different story. In India, I think the Sub-10 Lakh tag needs to be reduced to Sub-5 Lakh category or something. Semi-urban areas people don't attach any great meaning to handling/stability as compared to price/FE/style/finish. Also, in India, a hatchback means a 'small' car, a trend set by the 800 and its cousins so who'd pay money for a car above 5 Lakhs when a sedan can be bought for the same amount?

[sdp1975]

The prices of the base versions of the Punto are comparable with the swift.

The top end Punto may be in the premium segment, not so the base variants.

[HammerHead]

Originally Posted by theEnd

The reason this car has been somewhat successful in Europe is that they offer it with powerful engines (like the 1.4 TJet). And thats even before you start considering the Abarth version.

Do you have any data to prove your statements?

Here is the article dated 12 Sept. 2007, I know its old but that was published just after 1-2 years after its launch in UK.

Source:
Review Fiat Grande Punto - Brand & Image New car

The Active trim is definitely the biggest draw, fully 65 per cent of Grande Punto sales being attributed to this entry-level model and this highlights a trend in small car ownership. The higher end models always were smaller sellers but the market is becoming increasingly focused on high efficiency, small capacity engines. Fiat probably could plumb the 2.4-litre 20v engine from the Stilo into the Punto chassis but the top brass realises the market for such a car would be vanishingly small. Instead they are looking, in the medium term, to fit a 1.4-litre turbo unit as the flagship engine, a unit that promises decent power as well as manageable running costs.

[amit]

Originally Posted by theEnd

The Indian Fiat Grande Punto is not a hot hatch. Not by any stretch of the imagination. The engines offered are anaemic. The fastest version is slower than the Fiat Palio from 10 years ago.

There are these same anemic engines powering the Punto even in Europe. In fact, there is a 1.4L 77bhp petrol motor in UK which didn't make it to India. I believe there is a 1.2 Petorl in Italy.

The reason this car has been somewhat successful in Europe is that they offer it with powerful engines (like the 1.4 TJet). And thats even before you start considering the Abarth version.

Volume sellers even in Europe are the 1.4 Petrol and 1.3 MJD 75bhp variant. In UK, only Punto Eleganza gets the 1.3L 95bhp MJD. The 75bhp MJD is avaliable in the Active, dynamic and GP variants. There is no TJet in Punto Evo. Range topping petrol unit is the 1.4 Multiair with 105bhp.

Many people there can afford a Abarth or Tjet but can't afford the insurance on these hot hatches. I am sure even VW sells far fewer GTI's then regular Golf's.

As for dumping Tata, that's not gonna happen. Fiat and Tata are in a 50:50 JV and are equal partners in India. The maximum we can hope for are VW-Audi kind of arrangement where dealerships are in one building but have separate enterences and 'separate' showrooms from inside. This will happen only when Fiat by itself has the ability to pull in customers.

[DieselFan]

Originally Posted by sdp1975

The prices of the base versions of the Punto are comparable with the swift.

The top end Punto may be in the premium segment, not so the base variants.

There is hardly any difference in feature between a Punto Emotion+ and Swift ZXI yet the price difference is more than 75K which is totally unjustified. Base variant also has a 20K difference.What is key is the engine - Swift has a new 1.2L engine which is peppy and more fuel efficient.