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Old 8th January 2010, 15:59   #106
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Originally Posted by CliffHanger View Post
I don't know whether it's just for my eyes or for everybody's; I see a lot many Lineas than the 3rd gen Honda Citys. Linea's sales is definitely up there.
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Originally Posted by clevermax View Post
Yes there are a lot more Lineas to be seen on road nowadays. One factor could be that it's quite a looker!
Not quite in NCR. Don't see many Lineas here. Though ANHC is everywhere.
Perhaps looks are not everything afterall!

Coming to topic, reagarding Brazilian vs Indian Punto, one thing that i fail to understand, why India always gets step motherly treatment in comparison to Brazil (another third world country) when it comes to Fiat cars? Don't they realize that India is one of the fastest growing car market, specially small cars? Someone please enlighten.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:07   #107
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Originally Posted by DCEite View Post
Not quite in NCR. Don't see many Lineas here. Though ANHC is everywhere.
Perhaps looks are not everything afterall!

Coming to topic, reagarding Brazilian vs Indian Punto, one thing that i fail to understand, why India always gets step motherly treatment in comparison to Brazil (another third world country) when it comes to Fiat cars? Don't they realize that India is one of the fastest growing car market, specially small cars? Someone please enlighten.
Mate its not only FIAT !! Every other manufacturer treats India the same.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:08   #108
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Not quite in NCR. Don't see many Lineas here. Though ANHC is everywhere.
Perhaps looks are not everything afterall!
True in Mumbai too. I see a lot of ANHC's, very few Lineas. But lets just stick to sales figures to indicate which one sells more. On-road visibility to correlate to sales is absolutely unreliable.

Quote:
Coming to topic, reagarding Brazilian vs Indian Punto, one thing that i fail to understand, why India always gets step motherly treatment in comparison to Brazil (another third world country) when it comes to Fiat cars? Don't they realize that India is one of the fastest growing car market, specially small cars? Someone please enlighten.
Good question. Even the Palio Stile was launched in Brazil much before it came here and now I think the Palio sold there is a newer version than Stile. This strategy by fiat beats me too.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:08   #109
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I just hope they bring the GP Sport version soon....although not much ,85bhp on this beauty can spell wonders.With its high level of handling and ride it would surely become an instant hit.if only...FIAT plays its cards right and at the right time.
as there seems to be no plans for any 1.4t-jet or 1.6 mjd options anytime soon, this one has to bring around the margins.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:12   #110
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Originally Posted by DCEite View Post
Coming to topic, reagarding Brazilian vs Indian Punto, one thing that i fail to understand, why India always gets step motherly treatment in comparison to Brazil (another third world country) when it comes to Fiat cars? Don't they realize that India is one of the fastest growing car market, specially small cars? Someone please enlighten.
Perhaps due to economies of scale? Fiat's facility near Rio is probably the biggest in the world with an annual output of 700K cars. They sell way more cars out there every month than an entire year of sales in India. Sure India is one of the world's fastest growing markets but the increase in sales is riding on the back of low cost cars. Most people would rather save 10-20-30K than spend it on essential features like ABS, let alone better plastics or seat stitching. I was at the local Chevy dealership today (biggest one in NCR) and the sales manager told me they had sold only 2 Beats with the top of the line options package (ABS+Airbags+Alloys). The rest (about 60 odd) were mid-level trims that are only about 30K less than the better optioned model.

Last edited by khan75 : 8th January 2010 at 16:13.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:21   #111
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If you directly convert the cost of a Brazilian Palio to INR, it costs almost the double, isn't it? Please correct me if I am wrong...
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:27   #112
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Gomzi, in the current market including the Polo, i think the punto interiors are really neat especially on the emotion pk trim. It does take the fight up to all these other companies when it comes to the cabin being a nice place to be. The plastic is an issue which has been repeated over and over again, somehow people never crib about the same quality of plastic on the indica vista. yes the plastic is an issue which needs to be addressed.
sharanramesh, yes plastics look and feel is not appealing at some places and needs definite improvement at some. Yes! over and over again everyone will be cribbing upon it until Fiat drastically changes them, but apart from the plastics and some niggles there is mostly nothing else they would keep cribbing about. (read real car's hardware i.e engine, build, handling, tires,alloys, suspension) ever wondered WHY?

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Originally Posted by DCEite View Post
Coming to topic, reagarding Brazilian vs Indian Punto, one thing that i fail to understand, why India always gets step motherly treatment in comparison to Brazil (another third world country) when it comes to Fiat cars? Don't they realize that India is one of the fastest growing car market, specially small cars? Someone please enlighten.
You call that step motherly treatment, I call it effective way of doing business !

Well ! DCEite ! its not just Fiat, probably you should see Suzuki's UK Swift and its interiors or Hyundai's UK i10 and its interiors. Its all about affordability and to keep costs down so as to be able to sell decent numbers. Its the same story with every Car manufacturer.
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:47   #113
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Its good that Punto now has a 90 bhp engine to offer but am not sure if that extra bhp on a heavy diesel hatch be good enough to be called "Sport".
It would have been a lot better if Fiat could have also offered the T-Jet also which they are anyway bringing in Linea like they do elsewhere. That would have surely made Punto a hot hatch with 0-100 at less than 9s!! A real sporty supermini!
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Old 8th January 2010, 16:50   #114
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Originally Posted by samsan02 View Post

Well ! DCEite ! its not just Fiat, probably you should see Suzuki's UK Swift and its interiors or Hyundai's UK i10 and its interiors. Its all about affordability and to keep costs down so as to be able to sell decent numbers. Its the same story with every Car manufacturer.
I think DECite was trying to find answer by comparing two third world countries, Brazil and India. while you are comparing with UK. Not a fair comparo. UK gets everything that's better than here. While not the case with Brazil. YMMV
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:01   #115
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Originally Posted by samsan02 View Post
sharanramesh, yes plastics look and feel is not appealing at some places and needs definite improvement at some.
I have a colleague who just bought an I20 and another who just bought Punto. Maybe I lack attention to detail but I didn't find anything wrong with quality in the Punto. In fact just because it was black I preferred it over I20.

PS: this response might have been
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:13   #116
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I think DECite was trying to find answer by comparing two third world countries, Brazil and India. while you are comparing with UK. Not a fair comparo. UK gets everything that's better than here. While not the case with Brazil. YMMV
Agreed sir! But Not all thirdworld countires are equal either. Even Indian made Puntos & Lineas are being sold in South Africa along side the ones for those markets. But I am sure in South Africa the common Cars sold would be more superior to the ones sold in India.
As I said it all comes to keeping costs low and selling more no matter where they sell.
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:30   #117
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Originally Posted by sharanramesh View Post
i totally love the 90 bhp punto. Why call it the sports edition though, really - its a shame that Fiat are calling a diesel variant of the car a sports. they shud put that 108BHP motor from the t-jet in the punto. that will really be the hot hatch we have always wanted.
Someone posted 0-100 figures of 11.9 seconds for Punto sports. If that's true, it's goes close to legendary Palio GTX/S10, the only "hot hatch" we have had in India. It may only be 90 bhp, but it's a diesel, that means it would pull at much lower revs than a 90 bhp petrol.
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:35   #118
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@ chevelle - Simply put, more important than buying power of the customer and the country's economy would be customer perception and priority.
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:59   #119
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Exactly a year back, Autocar had their detailed road test of Fiat Linea.
The following was the final verdict

Blend of style and substance sets new benchmark!
Autocar Final Verdict 9/10
The Linea provides almost everything a buyer in this class wants, with very little missing.
Rating of 9/10 for Ride, Value, Handling, Build Strength and Quality

The only areas where the rating were relatively low was on performance and refinement. With the T-Jet coming, that should be taken care of. In other words, Fiat have really hit the sweet spot.
But how it would convert into sales is anybody's guess.
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Old 8th January 2010, 17:59   #120
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I was reading some where that Fiat might bring in Alfa Romeo by 2012

Any update on this? as many others are importing famous brands in Indian market...
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