[sunnyside]

Very True xPK, upto 60K premium in Dynamic & Active variants for T-jet, should be the sweet spot in terms of pricing.

Today the D segment is 10,000 cars per month (700Crore per month) & if we take Entry Sedans + D segment its almost 22,000 cars per month (1250 crores).

So the question is is fiat linea with 800 units (56 crore) or 8% of D segment & meager 2.5% of sedan segment, a successful product?? (Inspite of fan following, beautiful car etc.. etc..)

To be even counted moderately successful it has to roll in at least 15% of Market share of D segment & about 5-7% of sedan segment. This can only happen if FIAT keeps the the below four parameters which come into play while making a buying decision:

1. Good Product: 40% weightage in a buying decision (I believe Fiat has now on its hand)
2. Aggressive pricing: 30% weightage in a buying decision (Even Predatory pricing would give it volumes, say 25% gap down on ANHC). Initial volumes are important, because consumers have herd mentality, more cars you see on road, more the sales happen & prices can increase thereafter. (This is true for ANHC, not an absolute top class, but still is the king in volumes as well as pricing now)

3. Good support : 20% weightage in a buying decision. This would have the least bearing on the purchase decision, say about 20%. (Fiat has still miles to go)

4. Resale value: 10% weightage in a buying decision. This can happen only for vehicles with volumes. (For volumes, good product, good pricing, good support.... so its a vicious circle)

There can be a 10-15% variance in different income segments.

So in case of FIAT point number 3 & 4 cannot garner much weightages as of now, so it has direct control on only point no 1 & 2 (Good Product & Aggresive pricing)..So it makes more sense for FIAT to price T-Jet right to sway the fence sitters towards its product. (I'm one of them :-D)

So Fiat if you are listening ( er.. reading). PRICE T-Jet RIGHT. A humble request

[Speed Pujari]

Originally Posted by sunnyside

1. Good Product: 40% weightage in a buying decision (I believe Fiat has now on its hand)
2. Aggressive pricing: 30% weightage in a buying decision (Even Predatory pricing would give it volumes, say 25% gap down on ANHC). Initial volumes are important, because consumers have herd mentality, more cars you see on road, more the sales happen & prices can increase thereafter. (This is true for ANHC, not an absolute top class, but still is the king in volumes as well as pricing now)

3. Good support : 20% weightage in a buying decision. This would have the least bearing on the purchase decision, say about 20%. (Fiat has still miles to go)

4. Resale value: 10% weightage in a buying decision. This can happen only for vehicles with volumes. (For volumes, good product, good pricing, good support.... so its a vicious circle)

There can be a 10-15% variance in different income segments.

So in case of FIAT point number 3 & 4 cannot garner much weightages as of now, so it has direct control on only point no 1 & 2 (Good Product & Aggresive pricing)..So it makes more sense for FIAT to price T-Jet right to sway the fence sitters towards its product. (I'm one of them :-D)

So Fiat if you are listening ( er.. reading). PRICE T-Jet RIGHT. A humble request

A really appreciative analysis @sunnyside. I would give more rating to aggressive pricing and no. of units on road. A perfect example is not-so-perfect i20/i10 . People buy it bcoz they know their aquaintance buying it.

The crowd mentality today is dissimilar from the GTX days. Now there are more potential and knowledgeble buyer for performance car. I think Fiat must have understood this when lot of TD of 90hp punto did not yield any sale.

More bucks should be spent on the branding as well. Example associating with ferrari and letting people know the fact about giantness of Fiat brand. Or maybe giving a ferrari branded steering wheel or alloys.

Obviously all these effort should be shouted well like VW did through TOI. I think improper marketing was one reason for GTX failure. Believe me, then I did not know the value of GTX, since there was no source to know it, neither fiat screamed the facts.

[firstguri]

Originally Posted by Speed Pujari

More bucks should be spent on the branding as well. Example associating with ferrari and letting people know the fact about giantness of Fiat brand.

. I would vouch for that. People in India (well a lot of them) dont actually know what Fiat actually is. For most its just another car maker and this is one reason why Fiat's brand image is like this. Agreed they've made mistakes in the past and that is one reason why it finds itself where it is now but in order to change all that there has to some marketing effort. Now especially with the T-Jet, that addresses Linea's two main short comings- power and interior, it is now imperative for Fiat to let people know what they are all about.

[swiftnfurious]

@sunnyside - Bang on target! very very true from a customer perspective.

And those pics from SidIndica are so lovely - beautiful color. Wish they brought it in India too.

By the way, do we have an update on the launch date?? is this coming out for Diwali? Looks like this is already given for testing for journals.

@Mihir -- good pics buddy!

[sharma_sanjeevi]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

beautiful color. Wish they brought it in India too.

FIAT has confirmed that the Sun Beam Beige is coming to India. Infact, they have even given the Sun Beam Beige Tjet to Media also for the TD.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by sharma_sanjeevi

FIAT has confirmed that the Sun Beam Beige is coming to India. Infact, they have even given the Sun Beam Beige Tjet to Media also for the TD.

Thanks for the confirmation ! Is there any launch dates mentioned for the t-jet? Also any links to the initial test drive reports by any indian magazine?

[nkrishnap]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Thanks for the confirmation ! Is there any launch dates mentioned for the t-jet? Also any links to the initial test drive reports by any indian magazine?

Various mags have already got the first drive. To name a few car wale, auto car india, NDTV Profit CnB show had telecasted the first drive of the car.

There are links in this thread, please refer back for the same.

[firstguri]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Is there any launch dates mentioned for the t-jet?

The launch dates that I've come to know through this forum only is 8"th Oct'.

[sunnyside]

@VahanPujari, You, me and most of the BHP'ians are a miniscule minority among the car buying public. Majority of the car customers have a herd mentality thats why MUL cant discontinue M800 & Alto.

[rajchetan]

Originally Posted by sunnyside

@VahanPujari, herd mentality .

Rightly put, We Indians believe in the Herd mentality, across every aspect of life. Don't get me wrong. this includes me as well.

But 100% of Maruthi's that sell are the under the 7lac bracket. and unfortunately for FIAT the product that was supposed to build them UNO, was given in the wrong Hands, and again they trust someone else to Manage them.

I am not Saying TATA is BAD. TATA is a very one of the most trustworthy company in the WORLD.

I feel its high time, FIAT come by themselves and build on the products (Punto n Linea's) good will. How long will it take them to realize. They are a strong brand Name in INDIA. Its just require a concentrated repositioning of the BRAND and its Values.

They have an excellent range of products with them. Look at VW. They are continuously launching their products n are not sitting ideal.

I Feel its high time and the LAST TIME FIAT can make its presence felt in INDIA.

[sanstorm]

I was always smitten by the looks of Linea, this is now coupled with specs in T-Jet, thus making an irresistable option (on paper till I lay hands). With all pitfalls (in real and people's mind), I am prepared to go far second Fiat at home in T-Jet.

Talking about more launches to keep interest going, I totally agree. Panda should have been here before Punto IMO. There is Linea Station Wagon also being tested in some contries, though unlikely to make debut in India soon (due to limited wagon market) - Edit -seems TBHP does not like competition :( the automotive india forum URL is getting masked, but try appending /forums/global-auto-scene/1518-fiat-linea-weekend-estate-version.html


PS: Frankly speaking the Fiat *** atleast in Pune is at par with other car dealers, secondly I am prepared to take a plunge on resale considering the car will be with me for minimum 5 years. Touchwood, but going by low service/maint costs based on personal experience (spent Rs12000+ on my Palio in 6 years giving ~2000/yr), I think some costs around resale can easily be recovered through reasonable initial cost of car (no hefty premium) and equally competative costs of spares/maint/service.

You are getting a car as nicely built as say Skoda Octavia, at service costs in line with Indigo

[sunnyside]

@Rajchetan: I am not Saying TATA is BAD. TATA is a very one of the most trustworthy company in the WORLD.

I agree that TATA is a trustworthy company & one of the most ethical comanies in the world. But trust & ethics in TATA are of financial & operations nature.

The trust does not extend to home cars as they have still a lot to learn (After all its a truck company & lately a Taxi car company). But i hope with the integration of JLR, they would be putting the much needed finnese in their cars both product-wise and customer interaction-wise.

[rajchetan]

sanstorm

Originally Posted by sunnyside

But i hope with the integration of JLR, they would be putting the much needed finnese in their cars both product-wise and customer interaction-wise.

Guys you are right about TATA. Thats exactly my point.

But as sanstorm mentioned, If only FIAT become Active, i would not mind them become over active as well, and create a separate identity for them self. This is the time to do it.

They have to Products.
They have the money power.
They have the brand recall.

What they lack is attitude, n some touch decision Makers.

Please guys at FIAT, we all here care for this brand. Do a just Job. Don't dig its grave further.

[sunnyside]

I heard that that T-jet emotion is going to be 8.19 lacs ex showroom :-)
Way to go FIAT, it also means that Dynamic whenever launched would be 7.5 lacs ex showroom.

[adimicra]

One of my close friends is considering buying a sedan around 10 lakhs. Y'day he called me and asked if there is anything else to consider other than the ANHC.

He is a petrolhead, so I didn't recommend Vento.
I asked him to seriously consider the Linea T-Jet and gave him a laundry list of the features and other Fiat attributes like ride and handling etc - I told him that the TJet scores over the ANHC in all aspects other than the reliability and brand image, even the interior quality seems to be improved considerably!

He patiently heard all the stuff. At the end, he said that he doesn't want to spend 10L on a FIAT, however good the car might be! I couldn't even convince him to go for a TD. That's it, end of argument!