[doctorque]

Todays Economic Times, Panache supplement.

exclusive
PRANCING HORSE, RATTLING SABRES
Ferrari snaps ties with India dealer as complaints mount; Ashish Chordia maintains stony silence
b y ADITI SAXENA

The battle between disgruntled Ferrari owners of India and the manufacturer’s former India dealer, Ashish Chordia of the Shreyans Group, is heating up. On April 4, Ferrari, which entered the Indian auto market in 2011 with an exclusive dealership with Shreyans Group, told ET Panache that it does not have an official importer in India anymore and is contacting customers directly.
“Automobili Italia Private Ltd (set up by Shreyans Group specially for Ferrari) is no longer the official Ferrari importer in India,” the statement said. “Ferrari is contacting all clients to ensure assistance with all matters relating to the ownership experience in the absence of an official representative in India until such time as a new importer is appointed.”
This development coincides with complaints by Ferrari customers against Shreyans owner Ashish Chordia. Among those peeved with Chordia is the Raymond Group Chairman and Managing Director, Gautam Singhania. Singhania lashed out at Chordia on a social networking platform, claiming to have received negligent after sales service from Shreyans.

Source & Full Article: Economic Times

[samyakmodi]

I really wonder what went wrong between GS and AC - but as far as I remember AC had accompanied GS in his chopper to attend the PWRS back in 2008. at that time they looked like pretty close friends - but I guess something must have gone horribly wrong.

[A.K]

With regard to Mr. Thahir's car, one thing I find amusing is that his car was booked wayyy earlier than the Bangy Italia and Spider and AFAIK his was even the same/similar spec i.e Rosso Corsa with Nero interior and red stitching, yet the Bangalore cars arrived and his hasnt. Same has been with the Poonawalla brothers, one whose F12 is stuck at customs and the other's 458 is virtually non existent even though it was booked 2 years ago.
And with the current brewing of news, I hear that the dealer had stopped operations last month. So what will happen to the booked but not delivered cars and the ones held at customs?

[doctorque]

Originally Posted by samyakmodi

I really wonder what went wrong between GS and AC - but as far as I remember AC had accompanied GS in his chopper to attend the PWRS back in 2008. at that time they looked like pretty close friends - but I guess something must have gone horribly wrong.

Thats a difficult one to answer as GS has never dealt with AC, they've only known each other. Even his Ferrari was a direct import and he has never bought a car from AC. The only time hes had to use AC's service has been when hes needed service on his Ferrari. What went wrong as far as the service is concerned, i dont know.

Originally Posted by A.K

With regard to Mr. Thahir's car, one thing I find amusing is that his car was booked wayyy earlier than the Bangy Italia and Spider and AFAIK his was even the same/similar spec i.e Rosso Corsa with Nero interior and red stitching, yet the Bangalore cars arrived and his hasnt. Same has been with the Poonawalla brothers, one whose F12 is stuck at customs and the other's 458 is virtually non existent even though it was booked 2 years ago.
And with the current brewing of news, I hear that the dealer had stopped operations last month. So what will happen to the booked but not delivered cars and the ones held at customs?

I am guessing the ordered Ferraris are going to be in the same situation as the Porsches at the customs.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by A.K

With regard to Mr. Thahir's car, one thing I find amusing is that his car was booked wayyy earlier than the Bangy Italia and Spider and AFAIK his was even the same/similar spec i.e Rosso Corsa with Nero interior and red stitching, yet the Bangalore cars arrived and his hasnt. Same has been with the Poonawalla brothers, one whose F12 is stuck at customs and the other's 458 is virtually non existent even though it was booked 2 years ago.
And with the current brewing of news, I hear that the dealer had stopped operations last month. So what will happen to the booked but not delivered cars and the ones held at customs?

The Bangy italia and spider were cars brought into the country by Ashish and then to find buyers, not pre ordered by a customer. Mr.Tahirs car was ordered by him but he was wrongly informed about the dates, information and then his calls were not answered.
As for the Poonawalas, you have it wrong. YZP had ordered the f12 but cancelled it and ordered the 458 instead. Ashish used the same name to bring the F12 down and thought he would sell it to someone else. AP already owned a 458, which he sold and got the FF. The other owner who did not want to be named in the Article is YZP, Both his and Ashiqes cars are rotting in the customs for over 4 months now.

[A.K]

Originally Posted by speedy

The Bangy italia and spider were cars brought into the country by Ashish and then to find buyers, not pre ordered by a customer. Mr.Tahirs car was ordered by him but he was wrongly informed about the dates, information and then his calls were not answered.
As for the Poonawalas, you have it wrong. YZP had ordered the f12 but cancelled it and ordered the 458 instead. Ashish used the same name to bring the F12 down and thought he would sell it to someone else. AP already owned a 458, which he sold and got the FF. The other owner who did not want to be named in the Article is YZP, Both his and Ashiqes cars are rotting in the customs for over 4 months now.

This still gets over me. Thahir could be given that car right? Or was it selective service by AC just coz Bangy guy and him are great friends?
And yeah I know the guy not named is YZP and AP got the grey F12 AFAIK, not too sure though and BHPian CT got the red one. Both of which are rotting at customs along with a couple of Maseratis

[speedy]

Originally Posted by A.K

This still gets over me. Thahir could be given that car right? Or was it selective service by AC just coz Bangy guy and him are great friends?
And yeah I know the guy not named is YZP and AP got the grey F12 AFAIK, not too sure though and BHPian CT got the red one. Both of which are rotting at customs along with a couple of Maseratis

The Bangalore guy is well connected and is a continues customer..Tahir on the other hand is a simple person and not aggressive. I believe Tahir had configured his car and paid up for the same, so if the other car did not have some of the options then i guess it would be an issue.

I did mention it due to ur saying both brothers have called for cars and are stuck..which is not true. The end of this month makes it 5 months for the 458's to be rotting, i think 7 or 8 months for the F12's and about 6 months for the Masers. A real sad case of affairs.

[GTO]

Man, this Ashish Chordia's list of frauds just don't seem to stop, although I'm surprised Ferrari took so long before terminating the dealership & relationship.

Come to think of it, if he wasn't a cheat and conducted business in a fair manner, he would have raked in the moolah big time....just imagine having Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Ducati etc. under your umbrella. What a business! He only has himself to blame.

When was he released from jail? What finally happened to the earlier matter? Was it settled out of court or is he fighting? Related Link

[speedy]

Originally Posted by GTO

Man, this Ashish Chordia's list of frauds just don't seem to stop, although I'm surprised Ferrari took so long before terminating the dealership & relationship.

This has always been his working style, right from the first day. Ferrari was playing smart by patiently waiting for the contracts to expire and going the legal way. If they would have terminated him, as Audi and porsche did, then they would have to go into a legal battle and would have to pay some compensation and also their cars in the customs would have been rotting away.

Originally Posted by GTO

Come to think of it, if he wasn't a cheat and conducted business in a fair manner, he would have raked in the moolah big time....just imagine having Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, Ducati etc. under your umbrella. What a business! He only has himself to blame.

. He always saw shortcuts to making money.

Originally Posted by GTO

When was he released from jail? What finally happened to the earlier matter? Was it settled out of court or is he fighting? Related Link

He was never arrested..it was all on paper..bail was taken in advance. The matter has been kept hush, so what has actually happened is a mystery. There are a few cases of fraud registered against him and i think they would take a while before any settlement would be reached. Ashish does not seem the type to do an out of court settlement unless a lot of pressure is put on him.

[doctorque]

Still pretty unsure about Ferraris future strategy for India. There is no news about what is going to be their future course of action. Generally news of talks going on between a dealer and the manufacturer tends to be out before things are formalized.

But on the contrary, there is no news of any dealer being in talks (at least i am not aware of it), no news of Ferrari forming a national sales company (NSC) with FIAT India (which is the most logical thing to do), reference case Lamborghini India NSC at VW India.

IMO, they are wasting too much time doing this while the competition is laughing their way to the bank.

[A.K]

A supercar dealer official here said that it will most probably go the NSC way a la Lambo. And IMO this would be the best.

[carheadbanger]

Originally Posted by speedy

The Bangy italia and spider were cars brought into the country by Ashish and then to find buyers, not pre ordered by a customer. Mr.Tahirs car was ordered by him but he was wrongly informed about the dates, information and then his calls were not answered.
As for the Poonawalas, you have it wrong. YZP had ordered the f12 but cancelled it and ordered the 458 instead. Ashish used the same name to bring the F12 down and thought he would sell it to someone else. AP already owned a 458, which he sold and got the FF. The other owner who did not want to be named in the Article is YZP, Both his and Ashiqes cars are rotting in the customs for over 4 months now.

What is the booking process of these made-to-order cars? Shall an individual pay the full amount as advance at the time of booking ?

[speedy]

Originally Posted by carheadbanger

What is the booking process of these made-to-order cars? Shall an individual pay the full amount as advance at the time of booking ?

The booking amount generally is 25% of the total value and similar percentage as the car progresses on the production line upto delivery. It also depends on your rapport with the dealers that the % can be less or more as per the buyer convenience. No an individual does not need to pay the full amount in advance at the time of booking, but many people have paid the full value when booking the vehicles, thinking they would get the vehicle faster.

[dipen]

Enough has been said about Ashish and his company. Ferrari also needs to be blamed to a large extent. If the car is stuck with customs, it is Ashish and Ferrari's problem, not the customer's issue. Ferrari should have ensured that the customer gets his car. There are many direct legit imports in the country and Ferrari should have ensured a satisfied customer themselves. A customer who has made a large down payment should not have to wait endlessly. These cars even when cleared by customs would lose their aura in the customer mind. The newness would never be there. We are all skeptical of picking a 2013 car in 2014. How do we expect customers to appreciate a vehicle which has spend months in the in custom warehouse.

Ferrari just took the Indian audience for granted. In this matter its good that lamborghini has established itself way more successfully in a satisfactory matter.

[Anand123]

Now what will happen to the cars stuck at the customs? Will Ferrari release them or will they rot there for ever!!