[fz_rider]

Pricing will be really crucial ! The 1.4 emotion pack retails at say 7.6 L EX -Showroom delhi , so with all the goodies and engine upgrade ,
I will be expecting it to be around 8.5 L . But I saw someone saying in the review , that the engine is an imported unit , so the speculated 9 L sticker price may be right !
But on the other side , pricing alone cant be the deal -maker / braker . I mean , FIAT har been pricing the cars exceptionely well , be it linea or punto . I cant comment on the A.S.S , as I dont have the first hand experience , But they need to market their products well . FIAT'S are one the safest cars on roads , courtesy solid build quality , so they need to highlight this . Similarly , the diesels are quite fuel efficient and the cars are excellent in ride and handling department .
The marketing team needs to publicise these features , so that people can come to know about these .

[MihirC]

Well from what I was informed the OTR mumbai is arounf 10L. Thats an premium of 1-1.3 L on the existing model and just as GTO had mentioned.

[nkrishnap]

One can expect 60-70K above the existing Epack which would make it around 8.4 Lacs ex showroom. This would translate to 9.5-9.75 lacs. This would really be Bang for the buck.

For the price its wait and watch for the time being.

OT - @ GTO is your review of the Linea T-jet coming up on teambhp?

[v.anand]

It was mentioned in the NDTV C&B show that the gear box is the same as the existing one, which traces back to Palio IIRC. Other than this detail, the car seems to be terrific in all other aspects. Interior improvement is one fantastic move from Fiat, its USP is even the ANHC and Vento don't come in leather seats and soft touch plastic materials. Pricing is the key now, hope its not more than the diesel E-pack.

[vamsi.kona]

I was reading carwale review of T-jet and I found this rather interesting

[In the initial stages of its launch, the Linea T-Jet will be available only in Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

Fiat wants to concentrate on better customer service and overall presentation at all their touchpoints, since the Linea T-jet is a rather niche product and Fiat customers need a different level of service than they are currently used to in India.

Showrooms will be renovated to offer a premium brand experience, and the customers will be received by a well-trained executive -- a hostess -- who will walk them through the product features apart from offering them Italian Coffee -- for a truly Italian experience!

The customer will also get a test drive of approximately 5kms which will include an open stretch of 1km, so that they can experience the power and torque of the T-Jet engine. Fiat India will also make its customers feel special post the purchase of their T-Jet, by sending them a special bottle of wine delivered to their home in a special Fiat Wine case!]

While the above things take care of those who visit the showroom, Fiat should take steps which would bring more people to their showrooms.

[vnabhi]

I saw the review on TV yesterday and the car looks good. The leather seats are imported, and the torque of 205 NM at 2500 Rpm seems to be superb.

Eagerly awaiting a review.

[hotpursuit]

Originally Posted by vamsi.kona

While the above things take care of those who visit the showroom, Fiat should take steps which would bring more people to their showrooms.

Exactly! There is hardly 2 weeks for the speculative date of Oct-8th and still we haven't seen any teasers. How will people know, that something special from FIAT is coming, unless they project it that way from the start!

Are they waiting for the initial response and then start the campaign? For Heaven's sake Fiat, Don't kill such a wonderful product.

[sunnyside]

Now it all boils down to pricing. If Fiat wants to move from 700-800 units/month to 1500units per month, i believe the premium should not be more than 60K and also it would need to have T-Jet in dynamic Trim.

[harishsegar]

I hope they give a better audio system with the tjet. It would enhance the overall package.

[xPK]

Originally Posted by sunnyside

Now it all boils down to pricing. If Fiat wants to move from 700-800 units/month to 1500units per month, i believe the premium should not be more than 60K and also it would need to have T-Jet in dynamic Trim.

Yup! Pricing can be crucial factor here. Though I would love to see "not more than 60k", it seems very unlikely. The difference of 1.25L sounds more realistic to me. But again this will make T-Jet costlier than M-Jet, E-Pack. This might be the absurd comparison, but it might be hard to convince people (not petrol-heads) to shell out more money for petrol car than its diesel sibling. Though this car seems to be aimed @ performance freaks, FIAT may not want to keep focus restricted to those (this explains why FIAT de-tuned the engine and went for more mileage).

So IMHO, if FIAT is asking more than 1L for this car, T-Jet will be much closer to ANHC and FIAT might be risking their customers (expected) to move to ANHC.
In real life this could be the scenario, "Mr. XXX goes to FIAT showroom to see T-Jet, he is taken all over by T-Jet. He's already aware of handling and ride quality of Linea and was waiting the power to join the same league (may be that's why he came to see T-Jet). He takes the quotation and won't mind paying 10L for the car, he finalizes the car comes home happily, tells his relatives and friends about the car he want to purchase. 70% of them wonder why he is buying FIAT? 30% Appreciate his decision while some of them mention if you can spend 10L, why don't you buy ANHC? Interesting thought as Mr. XXX always considered ANHC as overly priced. So now suddenly makes ANHC fairly priced. His mind leans over ANHC, but heart is still beating for T-Jet. "Experts" play good role here. Finally it comes to poor A.S.S. of TATA-FIAT and Mr. XXX buys ANHC.

Sorry for being little dramatic, but this could happen. Does anybody remembers the launch of Jazz? i20 sell actually rocked since then and never came down. Before Jazz it was i20 which was considered overpriced, afterwards there were same people who started seeing value for money in i20.

So if I'm FIAT, I would relaunch all the versions with rich interiors, keeping 90bhp engine restricted to "Active" only (same strategy as Punto) and T-Jet in all other variants with price increase of 50-60K (I would definitely not ask for more money as my cars are already declined in market)

[MihirC]

I was not aware that the 205Nm of torque as at 2500RPM, this car will be a rocket and more ideal for the city drives than the ANHC if figures are anything to go by. A side by side driving comparo would be awesome.

Guys I just have a lay man question, TJet falls short of the ANHC by approximately 1-2 bhps, now do 1-2 bhps actually make a difference in the real world driving?

[hotpursuit]

In terms of driving package, Fiat should be much better especially with added power and the tsunami of torque at low rpms, as ride and handling wise i think everyone should agree that Linea was always better than ANHC.

But at the end of the day, its all on the perception. As mentioned before, if anyone ask a 3rd person the chances that he/she suggesting Fiat is quite minuscule. Being an owner of two Fiat Cars (Palio 1.9D and Linea Emotion), I've heard the questions a million times, as to Why Fiat?? And Frankly, I don't think Launching a superior product in itself is not sufficient for Fiat. Imagine if this had come from a Maruti Suzuki stable. It would have sold like hot cakes.

[fz_rider]

Originally Posted by MihirC

Guys I just have a lay man question, TJet falls short of the ANHC by approximately 1-2 bhps, now do 1-2 bhps actually make a difference in the real world driving?

NOT at all ! Infact , its the factors like gearing , kerb weight , are of great importance when the difference in output of two cars is meagre 2-4 Bhp

[v.anand]

@MihirC, Its all in the gearing and engine characteristics. 1-2 bhps don't make any difference at all in the real world if its geared well. However, due to abundance of torque available compared to ANHC, it will be more powerful in the real world.

As a case in point, Ford Ikon was a 91bhp 8valve SOHC motor and was geared short. It doesn't sound anything special specification wise. Compared to a Fiat Palio which was 16valve DOHC 100BHP motor, the figures state Palio must be a clear winner. In the real world, under city driving Ikon feels more peppy and fun. Palio motor was a better all-rounder with great mid-range but the difference was not as huge as it seemed while driven around in the city. Both these cars were favorites among enthusiasts during their times.

[CPH]

Originally Posted by MihirC

Guys I just have a lay man question, TJet falls short of the ANHC by approximately 1-2 bhps, now do 1-2 bhps actually make a difference in the real world driving?

What makes the difference in acceleration is the torque per ton on the wheels. This changes with different torque characteristics and gear ratio.

Originally Posted by v.anand

It was mentioned in the NDTV C&B show that the gear box is the same as the existing one, which traces back to Palio IIRC.

I very much doubt that the gearbox is the same. The normally aspirated FIRE boxes are rated at 150Nm torque and are often enough shreded on cars reaching not even 100Nm.