[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by abhi413

The prices were a letdown... after the City reduced prices I was imagining (wishful thinking) at least some price drop in Linea too, to maintain the price gap.
But even with low volumes, at least Fiat is selling a consistent number of cars (Linea + Punto) each month so they might not have felt the need to reduce prices just yet.

Thats right I guess. I feel the reason for not bringing the prices down is because June-July month sales are anyways low for most manufacturers and they will have to start reducing the prices with the festival season onset starting August. So Fiat might as well continue with the same price and get a price correction done later where they might expect substantial volumes to justify the price drop.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by abhi413

The prices were a letdown... after the City reduced prices I was imagining (wishful thinking) at least some price drop in Linea too, to maintain the price gap.
But even with low volumes, at least Fiat is selling a consistent number of cars (Linea + Punto) each month so they might not have felt the need to reduce prices just yet.

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Thats right I guess. I feel the reason for not bringing the prices down is because June-July month sales are anyways low for most manufacturers and they will have to start reducing the prices with the festival season onset starting August. So Fiat might as well continue with the same price and get a price correction done later where they might expect substantial volumes to justify the price drop.

I dis -agree here. Linea is already priced correctly so i suspect if FIAT will ever reduce the prices for linea. They are already throwing in free insurance + 4 years extended warranty,RSA and other tits & bits here & there, which is completely unheard of wrt to honda city. City was always over priced by at least 1 lakh and still it's over priced by at least another 40-50 K In my opinion. considering the equipment level FIAT provides with Linea , IMO it;s complete VFM car when compared to city .

[abhi413]

Originally Posted by .sushilkumar

I dis -agree here. Linea is already priced correctly so i suspect if FIAT will ever reduce the prices for linea. They are already throwing in free insurance + 4 years extended warranty,RSA and other tits & bits here & there, which is completely unheard of wrt to honda city. City was always over priced by at least 1 lakh and still it's over priced by at least another 40-50 K In my opinion. considering the equipment level FIAT provides with Linea , IMO it;s complete VFM car when compared to city .

Point taken. Clearly Honda has reduced the City's price due to market dynamics and competition, in addition to the general goodwill about Diesel prevailing nowadays. But this cut has brought down the gap between the Fiat and the Honda. Forget some of us die-hard Fiat fans, but otherwise the majority of Indian junta perceives Honda as a much better, proven brand w.r.t. Fiat.

While the Linea /Punto have always been VFM, Fiat could've thought of maintaining the price differential between itself and the Honda. As it is they don't sell too much, only about 2k per month combined. At least a price hike NOW is not really justified, even if minimal. As it is steel prices will go down this quarter. Plus some makeover / facelift is expected in the Linea / Punto by Diwali. Hence I am a little surprised at the rationale behind the increased prices.

[sarmarishi]

Any idea about when the new Punto is coming? A friend is looking at buying a diesel hatch and was considering the Punto and Polo. The purchase will be in around 2 months. Can the new Punto be expected by then?

[RavenAvi]

Originally Posted by sarmarishi

Any idea about when the new Punto is coming? A friend is looking at buying a diesel hatch and was considering the Punto and Polo. The purchase will be in around 2 months. Can the new Punto be expected by then?

No. The Grande Punto in it's existing avatar will be with us for at least another two years.

The Punto facelift is scheduled for 2013, most probably mid-year.

[.sushilkumar]

Originally Posted by abhi413

While the Linea /Punto have always been VFM, Fiat could've thought of maintaining the price differential between itself and the Honda. As it is they don't sell too much, only about 2k per month combined. At least a price hike NOW is not really justified, even if minimal. As it is steel prices will go down this quarter. Plus some makeover / facelift is expected in the Linea / Punto by Diwali. Hence I am a little surprised at the rationale behind the increased prices.

Understood your point buddy, but rising prices needs to be absorbed some where . nobody knows if steel prices will go down or up . we are just judging based on hear say . even if fiat is selling 2k, they are here to earn some profit .

even with this price hike of 2-3 K , they have reduced the price on premium shades by 1 K . so effectively customer is paying just additional 1 K only if he goes for premium color . again price reduction of honda is due to competition and still i am sure they are making good profit . now imagine the profit honda has earned on each car before this price drop .