For all the noise, how is Fiat really doing?

Steeroid,

In my 6 months Linea ownership experience, I've always felt that one has to drive Linea longer because of its typical long clutch ply, short gear ratio's, Linear power delivery etc to understand/ realize the power/capacity it is capable of. It took me 2 months & there is no looking back. Linea power is not the great but its not that bad either what you're making it out. There are owners on forums who have ANHC, NHC, SX4, Skoda, Scorpio etc also apart from Linea. None has said what you're saying about Linea's power & none has either quoted Linea as "powerful".

Its all documented in my ownership thread here - criticism first & then realisation. If you've time, check... (post # 6,7,8)

http://www.carwale.com/Forums/ViewThread-11136.html

More extensive details here....

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/56200-fiat-linea-my-dates-red-emotion-al-beauty-fire-3-months-5k-kms-report.html

Posted by Amit
Vahanpujari's real name is also Amit like mine but we are two different human beings .

ha ha ha...thats a good one, Amit 

I'm sure you're right, but if it takes 2 months to appreciate a vehicle's power delivery and adjust to it then its going to be very difficult to find buyers with that kind of patience.

Which probably explains why people arent biting after a test drive.

If Linea's engine (which is considered to be a national engine), & Power are so bad what you're talking about & if we take some people's criticism about poor quality plastics, interior fit n finish, TASS service capabilities, Fiat's past & horror stories about Spare parts availability & horrendous service, abscence of Fiat's own service network, the smallest dealer network of 99 dealers amongst the segment, etc etc, its difficult to digest why even a single or anything more than 200-300 Linea's should be selling. Whereas there are almost 1000 customers (some of them are owners of other "Powerful" cars) are buying Linea every month which is a very very decent number considering all the above. Is there something great about the car then ? I dunno...  

Edit Remark:  Please do not quote preceding post (since deleted).

@ Vahan , when you park all those sedan ( less than 10 lacs ) side by side , you can realise what Linea is all about !! . I doubt anyone even give a look to others !! .Linea stands out from the crowd. It looks much more expensive than what actually it is. And you know much better that .

Linea is a success inspite of all sorts of a problems associated with them. No car is a perfect so is Linea . But as package it is perfect combination for normal person .

Fiat is back into market after a long time, thats the reason why people are making so much of noise. The actual buyers do not go by the noise but by the brand image.

The sale might be low, but the brand image is not. The JV of Tata- Fiat is giving more confidence to public, rather than fiat alone. You try for yourself and then write more about the car. Maruti, Hyundai, Honda and Chevrolet need not be given any noise, coz they are in India since a long time and internet feedback was not there those days. It was the word of mouth which used to make noise for these brands. So dont get annoyed by the noise being made by the fellow netizens.

Yes and lets talk about that same humble engine more.

If we really want to be honest critics, then another criticism should have been that - its a shame on those great top brands / companies that they do not have a better /competitive diesel engine & have to use this humble MJD from a lowly company who was in doldrums & whose criticism (in whatever manner) is considered to be a fashion.

And we've said in earlier posts that Engine is the heart n soul of the car. Right? So, its like having heart/ soul of somebody with only the skin/ cloths one's own.  If ever there is a wordpower, isn't it also called an imposter ?

Some one in this thread saying punto clocked 2020.. thats not true its only 1200 units for Octobers sales and for lenia it is 1000 units.. Can you compare this with I-20 reaching about 5000 units and City also over 5000 unitis sale for october. Fiat has a long history of flop shows.. Uno, palio we all know about them... Why not Fiat want to open its own showrooms if it is so big company.. There is not a single brand who is selling his product in others showroom .. it seems just ridiculous. Will Tata happy if Punto sale pass Indica. which is currently segment leader with 9000 units for october. .

Couple of reasons for that:

- Total Fiat sales in October was about 2,220 units. Can any business (showroom and service) sustain on such low volumes? Showroom owner's could ask Fiat to hike spares cost to recover the cost of setting up the showroom and service area faster. Would you like that?

- If you have about Rs.5 crores to invest would you open a Fiat showroom or a Hyundai showroom?

- If the Linea and Grande Punto were launched from Fiat exclusive showrooms, how many people would buy these cars?

All of us want to see Fiat sell their products from their own showrooms, but is it feasable for them to do that? Considering their past sins, Fiat has no choice but to rely on Tata to sell their cars. People are biting the Linea and GP bait because these cars are sitting in Tata showrooms. Fiat created this mess and they have to tolerate any step motherly treatment that Tata is giving them. Simply put, they have no choice right now. Like many even I believe that uptil now, Tata has gained more from this JV then Fiat. As volumes pick up, I am sure both Tata and Fiat will look at segregating their showrooms and service center's but until then Fiat has no choice but to sell the crumbs that come their way in Tata showrooms.

A little off topic, I feel where Tata-Fiat need to get more aggressive in marketing. From 367 units in October 08 to 2220 in October 09, that's a whopping 500% increase in sales Y-O-Y despite the economic slowdown of last year! Fiat can legally say that they are india's fastest growing car maker but they are not. Why? Why can't Fiat organize a mileage drive for owner's and auto magazines. Heck, even Mahindra-Renault did it for the Logan and even Ford did it for the outdated Ikon when they launched it with the 1.4 TDCi. They have this Fiat diesel drives India but how many people know about it?

There has to be a marketing blitzkerig for companies that are re-launching themselves in a market (Fiat) and also for companie's that newly launching themselves (Hyundai in 1990's and VW now). But Tata-Fiat are taking it slow and easy behaving like everyone in India knows about Fiat's heritage and products. The Linea still has that silly 'Admiration Guaranteed' advt's running. That tag line could have been used when the car was new and to introduce it into the market. It should have slowly changed to present more features of the car. Ditto for the GP. All you have is Yuvraj driving the car. Print advts feebly talk about Blue&Me which in India is a unique feature avaliable only on Fiat's in this segment. Ditto for the 15,000kms service intervals. Even 10 months after Linea's launch barely anyone knows about Blue&Me and it's best in industry service intervals.

Is it because Tata is scared that if they advertise these cars properly they may sell more then what they are doing now? I don't know. No one does but the marketing seems very amateurish.

Again you comparing with segment leaders. Compare Punto with Jazz, U-VA or Fabia.

Actually, this Thread's title & the 1st post implicitly says that Fiat is not doing well so why all Noise? Lets look at the "noise" & "doing well or not".

As I mentioned earlier when someone says even minor positive things about Fiat, it becomes a "noise". Look at following items which have been said in response to that:

1. Fiat's horrible record in India - parts not available, to be imported taking days/ mponths to arrive, A.S.S. quality & reliability, lack of network etc etc
2. Lack of trust
3. Interior Quality
4. Plastic quality
5. Engine power/ pull
6. Panel gaps
7. TASS capabilities & Question marks
8. Lack of professional approach by TASS
9. Fit n Finish
10. Chrome beading coming out
11. Plastic Parts coming out
12. Frequent Service station visits

Isn't this also the "noise" and louder at that? Looking at above, why Linea should sell at all or anything more than 200 or may be 300 cars p.m. ? But 1000 customers are taking a plunge every month. If one considers that and calls these owners' positive reviews a "noise", then I would say that "noise" is justified & would not say it a "noise" but owners' first-hand feedbacks/ reviews.