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-   -   Fiat says Tata, all set to launch brand stores (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian-car-scene/90863-fiat-says-tata-all-set-launch-brand-stores-6.html)

That indeed is good news for Fiat. Congratulations on that.
However, that would not be an easy task. Fiat isnt a brand thats entering new into the market. They have a long history, which isnt that pleasant. Will they find takers? Would they come up with their own ASC's? Or would they still be dependant on Tata's?
If these questions are answered positively, then thats good news for Fiat. Lets wait and watch.

Along with separate sales network, Fiat should also introduce facelifted versions of Linea/Punto. I'm not sure how many people will be willing to buy "same old" Punto/Linea from a new showroom. A facelift would increase the footfalls in the new showrooms.

Not many people would be willing to be a dealer for a company that sells ~1000 cars a month. The fact that some have been willing to do so may mean that Fiat is planning to introduce their mass-market small car also in the next 12-18 months.

The existing Tata-Fiat dealers would have spend considerable sum of money to setup the joint showroom, without fancy returns so far. So I think it is only fair on the part of Fiat to offer the new dealerships to the existing dealers first.

Fiat is selling 1000 odd cars per month with a network of 170 dealers, whereas Nissan with almost no brand recall in India and just one model in the sub-10 lakh range, is selling 1500 cars per month.

A vast network is a necessity only if, dethroning the numerouno Maruti is your next goal. I think FIAT has many more immediate obstacles to clear before reaching that situation.

The article is slightly unclear on that. It says, the SAME dealer would just open "diff. showrooms".

So, it's like everything is the same but the showroom is diff. Eventually, I guess FIAT will invite franchisees for dealership as well as A.S.S. Let's see how soon.

Too little too late, ain't it!

Finally it seems Italy management is looking into Indian operations and their balance sheet. Ideally, this should have been the case when Linea was launched. Lets see how fast they implement this.

I dont know what the people at FIAT and fellow t-bhpians have to say about this, but in my opinion, this is exactly what has happened. IMO, for any average joe, when he walks into a tata showroom, the difference in value-for-money factor of two cars having similar spec [read:vista v/s punto; manza v/s linea] will always standout. Most would either buy the value for money offering from tata or go to a separate brand. Thus, separating the dealership should bring in a significant improvement in terms of sales IMO, hopefully.

The article says that 20 dealerships will be opened by existing Tata/Fiat network. Which is good, as it ensures some form of continuity. Tata dealers might well be selling Fiats till a wider network is established as it would be near impossible to keep operations going with just 20 exclusive dealers.

How about a showcase company owned/operated dealership in Delhi or Mumbai, not just to show how committed they are to our market but also as a benchmark for Fiat's new dealers?

Finally Fiat is doing something, lets hope they hire fresh hands for the new showrooms, or else the lazy guys from the TASS will continue to screw up things. There are cases where cars were delivered without even doing the PDI, these kind of issues should be rectified once Fiat specific showrooms are opened.

Rather than opening showrooms, FIAT should open FIAT service center at least in 10-15 cities. It will work more for brand building in long term rather than showrooms.

It should be welcome move if Fiat, 1st breakway with JV, in the current holding TATA is a 50% partner in India, so Fiat showroom or service center will have a TATA effect on them. Please launch individual Company something as Fiat India Ltd, if Renault, Nissan can do it I don't see any reason why Fiat can't do it. Then bring some more models like Panda, Bravo or Sub-brands like Alfa Romeo(OH!!! Asking too muchlol:), with cars under Fiat's stable, they can take on any brands in Indian market, question is why they are not doing it!!!!

Only 2 cars(Punto and Linea) will not do the magic for Fiat for sure.

This is a good move, but FIAT needs to creat more awareness around its lineage, make a point that they are the ones who manufacture ferrari, Alfa romeo etc.
And also run advts on service costs like how chevrolet did, as this factor is one big deterrent in people choosing fiat. Most people have this perception that Fiats are very expensive to maintain { which is partly true considering rivals like maruti / hyundai}.

I feel that Fiat's decision to ask the existing dealers to open separate showrooms (ok, I am rephrasing it) is fair, at least given the Kerala context.

There ain't much business houses in KL who are
(a) interested in vehicle sales
(b) have the adequate expertise
(c) have the funds
(d) allowed by their existing businessess (eg - there would be exclusivity contracts in case a business group is owning dealership of other brand).

Right now, we have in KL fish traders and coconut oil dealers dealing cars. In addition to tyre retreaders and former spares dealers. The latter groups at least have some relationship with the automotive industry. At least one business group in formerly spare dealerships had to cry off car sales since they did not have the adequate working capital.

MSIL dealerships too are not much different. Just that they have longer experience because MSIL has been in car business longest, after HMIL. Err... emmm.... in those yonder days, they bagged the dealerships on account of right "connections" rather than on merits.

But going by the travails of Linea owners (mainly rust issues), changing the dealers is a bit like blaming the pitch for losing a cricket match. (why did the other team win on the same pitch?)

FIAT should invest in COCO dealerships (company owned company operated). Existing TATA dealers, even if they open seperate showrooms, the poor customer service will continue as the ROI will be low.

Except existing TATA dealers, no one will be ready to invest in a new FIAT dealership which will sell 10 cars per month each.

Once and if the COCO dealerships make a positive impact, then locals can be awarded dealerships.

As you have said it is just a perception. I have owned both Hyundai and Fiat. If you ask me, Hyundai is the most expensive to maintain and most of the Hyundai Service people act like Robots who don't just listen what the customer says. This is truly based on my experience.

I am very much happy with the Fiat A.S.S.

But keep in mind, many major cities, the dealer is Concorde motors which is a company promoted by TM. If Concorde is allowed to open Fiat showrooms, it simply means, the management concluded, there is nothing wrong with the current relationship, the issue is that Fiat and Tata products are displayed at the same location is the issue. Nothing else..