Fiat India - Sales Thread

@ancientmariner,

I agree when you say the visibility has to be improved. The current sales of Punto is happening not because of any advert, but prospective customers seeing the cars on the road withe their own eyes (visibility ) and getting hooked on their own

I dont think that VWs "das auto " means anything to the masses. It could just be two words written under the VW brand which could get passed as something vague. " das " is a name in south and Bengal areas , "auto " is more associated with auto rickshaws

I wish FiAT selects a very relevant punch line which the masses can relate. Their caption "Driven by Passion" is very nice.. they should give more visibility to that and actually it is passion that they sell.

 

if these numbers r authentic , then its great to see people having so much confidence in Fiat. good to see Punto back to 4-digit no. Even Palio seems to be getting back on track. well done Fiat. :clap

 

Well, I had read in the newspapers that Fiat is the 6th highest spender in terms of advertisements in the auto industry. We also see a lot of newspaper ads these days (at least thrice a week).
More than ads its the A** they need to focus on & also customer delight. But its happening now.....A** is improving, product have got better & new variants will certainly strengthen the co.

VW is spending like mad...without any doubt. But if u go to see, most of their ads are senseless (why would one test the mileage of his car in a jungle :A). They are positioning the car more as an every day commuter. Its evident that they are throwing money (b'cos they have it)!

 

Very True. I am getting my car this week and they better get their A** right. The other day, someone remarked 'buying a fiat, get ready to spend more on maintenance'. This is still the perception that people carry ( read masses which drive the volumes). Fiat is investing time and money to get their act right and with word of mouth publicity from current fiat owners , I am sure things will brighten up more.

I beg to differ. Ads can be witty and creative. Anyway that's besides the point , something to be debated about

 

Punto sales are low. Plain and simple fact. When Polo can do 1000+ sales with 40 dealers why can't Fiat do 2,500 units after being in India for over a decade?

I feel both the company and the average car buyer have to change some things. Fiat has to understand the baggage it is carrying - they goofed up with both the Uno and Palio and now the bad image is stuck. They have to work hard to get that out of the minds of the people and sadly they aren't doing much about it. Advertisements are meant to leave an impact on people, make them think , debate and talk about them long after the TV screen has gone blank and the newspaper sold to the raddiwala. VW ads do that. Fiat ads don't. Just showing Yuvraj Singh driving around in a Punto aimlessly is not going to help. The ads have to either appeal to our emotions or be funny.

Regarding service, where are the full page comparo adverts with other cars for servicing costs? How many prospective car buyers that walk into showrooms come out knowing that the service interval for a Fiat is 15,000 kms against 10,000 kms for a Hyundai or Maruti? Things maybe moving but they are moving too slowly. The company is slow, sales staff seem a bit clueless when it comes to Fiat car's maybe because they are talking to people who aren't exactly the typical Tata type customers they are used to dealing with (no offence to Tata owner's but you get the drift about what I am saying) , there is talk of setting up a warehouse in Chakan to streamline spares avaliablity but there is still something missing there too. They need to move faster. See how VW moved. When they have a VGT in the Linea why do they take ages to launch the Punto VGT?

Lastly, people need to give up their mindsets about Fiat too. Things have improved no doubt about that. The improvement is in all areas - sales , service , spares everywhere so repeating blanket statements based on 'someone I know had a nightmare with his Palio' are not going to help.

Problem is everyone loves a disaster story.

 

@Prashant, I am owning 1.2 Active since November 2009. I just clocked 12000 kms.
1.2 engine is not at all slugish. Fiat car not tuned like Maruti. You need to drive car in proper gear. I've beaten couple of swift in pickup. I already touched 160 kph and I am sure I could touch 165 kph.

You can't feel pick up by the time you don't see in speedo. Thats why people feel its slow but its not in actual. This all is happening because of excellent handling of Punto and peek torque at low RPM.

Also I am getting excellent millage. On Monday, I clocked 19.8 kpl with 5 people in the car.

Frankly speaking I dont see any of the said car close to my Punto.

 

Nitin, i completely agree with u. Punto 1.2 is not at all sluggish. i have driven 1.2 emo and its simply excellent. pick-up was just fabulous. there was no problem in climbing a small hill even with ac on. its only a myth that 1.2 is slow. and ppl tend to believe that how can a 1.2 litre engine pull a punto and so it must be sluggish.the engine is very refined and there is no sound into the cabin.
Well done Fiat!