For all the noise, how is Fiat really doing?

Hi All, I guess I need to share my experience here. I decided to buy a sedan a month back and started my resarch. I found lots of information in CarWale and started following. My choices were, 1) Verna. 2) Fiesta. 3) Aveo Believe me... I did not think about Linea at all. I started a thread in carwale asking for suggestions, where I get to know I can also look for Linea. I have visited Hyundai and Ford showrooms any my experience is as below.

1) Hyundai. I have visited HMP showroom in chennai (near Kathipara bridge) and no one was there to receive me. After 10 mins, I went to the receptionist and asked her to connect me to a sales person for verna. I was asked to wait for few more mins, and a sales person finally turned up after 15 more mins. He was kind enough to answer all my questions and happy to compare different hyundai cars (I compared the features of i20 and verna). He was not much knowledgable of i20. However he did not hesitate to go back to his manager and ask my questions to get me the answer. I wanted to have a test drive of both the vehicle and registered to two different people (one for verna and other for i20). I have got an sms saying thanks for visiting the showroom etc and nothing more. I did not bother to call them back either after that.

2) Ford. I have called up Ford dealer(Chennai Ford, Arumbakkam) and fixed an appointment. (I did not want to wait for 30 mins as I did in Hyundai). I was received in couple of mins and able to get a dedicated sales person to explain about the cars. However I personaly feel that the sales person is not knowledgeable enough to explain the difference between the different versions of fiesta. (I wanted to understand the extra features offered in ZXI over Ltd edition. Trust me, he did not even tell me that ZXI has ABS with EBD where as Ltd does not have. I came to know this from Carwale later). I wanted to do a test drive and was told that the car went outside and asked to wait for few mins. Unfortunatly I could not wait and I booked a test drive next saturday and left. They said, they will bring the vehicle to my doorstep and did not do. However he called me and informed me that they could not bring the vehicle on that day. I really liked that attitude. However I waited for two weeks and nothing worked out.

3) Aveo. I have decided to drop the plan of Aveo as suggested by different members in Carwale.

I have also got a suggestion from Carwale to try Linea. Ofcourse, I was also told that the service (both pre sale and post sale) service is very bad. Still I visited Concorde motors in Velachery road and I was really treated well and explained. I was trying to compare linea with Manza there. The sales person did not know much about Manza (he is a dedicated Fiat Linea sales rep) and took me to another guy to get the details of Manza. I wanted to do a test drive of both the vehicles and no luck for me that day. As I was impressed with the outter look of linea I visited Tafe Reach (another dealer) on the same day, where I again had a good experience. I have told them clearly that I need a test drive. The sales rep immediatly took me outside of the showroom where I was able to test drive Manza. When I was driving Manza itself, the sales guy called up someone to get the linea to the place where I am. Within five mins, the vehicle came and my brother drove Linea and I did Manza.

My experience with Tafe Reach was really nice in chennai. He also followed up with me every one hour (Whenever he calls me I used to tell him to call after one hour due to my busy official schedule) without any problem and was also offering some good offers. I went ahead and booked my linea, that will be delivered sometime next week. I am also looking forward a similar kind of service after sales (not sure if this is too much).

The bottom line is that it is IMPROVING.

OT:  The above post is edited for formatting/para-spacing etc.  (this edit remark couldn't be accommodated therein due to space constraint).

Interesting points, yes whats stopping people from a FIAT is the uncertainity. Loved Amit's Naomi Campbell example, perfect. While shopping for a car, everytime i bought up Linea everybody disuaded me to stay away and i eventually gave in. Also the fact that requests for test drives and queries were not entertained. Also some dealers did not even have one for TD fuelled my decision against it. Linea is a good looking car, priced sensibly, only if sales and accessibility would improve, thats the first step for Fiat.

Personally i feel that Fiat has improved a lot in totality when we compare it with its own last five years records. Also JV with Tata is helping them a lot. Just read that Fiat is planning to bring another small car in the range of 3-4 lacs rupees . It may be a new Palio or totally new model . It just shows that Fiat India is upbeat & very serious about India.

By the way can someone give us the details of exact sales figures of GP & Linea Vs rivals for last 6 months ?

2nd Nov to 5th Nov, we have hit 6 pages. That just shows how many folks are actually interested with discussions regarding Fiat.

Cheers,

Naveen

if only fiat dealers were as interested & enthusiastic about selling their cars as we are about buying them

Well, it seems sharing our experience with Tata/Fiat dealers goes hand in hand with the topic of this thread. Here is my experience.

I started looking for a car in Feb'09 with Wag-R. I almost finalised it then but for some strange reasons (My dad kept me saying - why don't you wait for sometime, for no specific reason) Then I came across Vista, really impressed by the space available inside as I'm rather tall guy. But something in my mind was holding me back for going to Tata cars. I was getting regular calls from Fortune, Thane. The guy was really nice and used to keep me informed the offers. Then came Punto, again I went to Fortune, the same sales guy arranged the TD immediately. That was around July. It took me another 3 months and another TD, more visits to the showroom. When I went for the PDI of Punto, I found the Odo was reading 202km. He explained me that the car was driven all the way from the Factory to the werehouse. I refused to accept the delivery, without any fuss, he booked another car. Well I could not got it on Diwali, but there was no heated arguments at all.

Now I've yet to experience the After Sales Service of T/F but with my earlier experience, I hope it to be smoother.

i was looking for a sedan;choices were-Fiesta & City inititally (Didnt wanna goin for a Chevrolet even in my dreamz,3 of my frndz own either an Optra/Spark/Aveo and al r bad bad according to dem)

Fiesta was a beast to drive, v gud pickup.Maintenance for the 1st yr is a mere 6500/- But if u do hit an accident or service spares,it hits your pocket Hard!! My cousin owns one for past 2.2 years - diesel

City is awesum on looks - kills on 1st site,luks v luxurious & has a gud pickup.Its got tacky & downmarket interiors for a car costing 10.5 on-road.One thing to obseve is the thigh(leg) space for rear seat.Rear seat only covers half of ur thighs (very uncomfy if u r tall or long drive bcos ur legs r alwz hanging).FE of the new city is lower and is about 11-12 in city bcos of the improved pickup.

I never even had Linea in my mind considering that it was being handled by Tata's. One of my close buddies had brought a Linea jst 4 months back & had done a round about of 5300 kms on the car. He literally dragged me to the showroom for a test drive.The looks of the car are v gud,interiors were awesum & totally upmarket & latest features. I loved the car!! But again the Tata factor was keeping me behind.

Then i started doing alot of research on cars.It works out that Fiat provides engines to Chervolet n most of the other manufactures.Its one of the best when engines come to mind. Uff that was a relief.I then searched through the market in europe.I was amazed to knw dat Linea was doing awesomely good in the european market & other than a few features Linea's available in India & d European market are same.Mind you - European customers are very demanding & hard to convince when it comes to cars and if a car is doing very well in the european market it ought to do well all over the world. Another plus point i say.

I then heard that Fiat's air conditioners are not so good & dont cool as well as others manufacturers. I then did research on the air conditioners & was pleased to know that all air conditioners in India are supplied by same manufacturer & is of same quality.Also Linea has air vents on the foot and knee level for rear seats.

I was also very heartbroken when i approached Pandit Auto in Pune,Tilak Rd & met a representative named Mr Nachiket - a very bad mouthed, arrogant & worst sales person i have ever come across.I was then approached after 2 days by Pandit agn & this time it was someone named Vinay who was gentle,well knowledged & passionate about the car.I was impressed. On the 3rd day i approached Bandari Auto Pune,Pashan rd & staff was v welcoming & pleasant.I took a test ride to climb a slope of 45 degree upwards & car did really well in 2nd gear,smetimes with bumper2bumber traffic a km or so on d upward climb.Ground clearance is a problem with big potholed roads so one needs to be slower on speed breakers.FE on the test drive vehicle showed 16kmph,done a 22567 kms(multijet). It needs servicing at 15000 kms so less rounds to d service centre & displays reliability of engine-another plus point

If you do take all this into consideration I was impressed with Linea & it seemed like a total worth to invest in a car kinds.With almost 2 mnths of research & talkin to various owners of Fiesta,City & Linea.If i did see a Linea on road on a red light i would stop by & ask for a review, recommendations & 99% of the owners were very Happy with the vehicle & satisfied

So dont only go for the sales person, look at the over all picture is what i would say - as i did land up booking myself a Linea Emotion Pck although being the typical conservative, FE concious, after sales concious, serving concious, road side assistance concious, resale value concious Indian that i

Also do observe the small things Fiat has done on the Linea, like both sanity mirrors with lights - impressed my girl for sure. The Blue & Me very essential bcos most of us are on our cell phones most of the times. The sun protector screen at the rear - very comfortable for the person sitting on the rear seat as the sun doesnt hit the rear seat person on his/her neck. The rear a/c vents on foot and knee level - keeps my mom very happy . The distance to empty meter reading. Means i can go on and on about these small littel things kept in mind by Fiat and for a price tag of 9.28 on-road pune.

More over and most important thing is you feel expensive and rich feeling once you are inside the car. which makes all the difference