Fiat India - Sales Thread

The authors of these articles seems to be paid heftly by the car companies, to write only good things about them. And likewise they do, as the medical reps present new meds to doctors and rewarding them with prizes. But that's part of the game. Else how can we justify the sales of feather like weightless cars from jap n korea.

 

They declared i20 as the winner not the Polo. But I do agree about the biased part. In fact, OD has always been biased against Fiat for some reason. When the Palio was launched, they were the ones who made a big hue and cry over the low mileage of the 1.6. I still remember their words 'If you buy a Palio 1.6, better buy a petrol pump alongwith it'. of course, they never said that the mileage of the 1.6 was as good as the mileage of the Ikon 1.6 or Accent 1.5. Back then OD was a Tata owned magazine and their biasedness was understandable as they the Palio diesel launch was imminent and it would have killed the Indica. Now OD is no longer with Tata's yet they are blatantly against Fiat.

In fact, a few months back, a reader wrote a letter that was surprisingly printed in the magazine calling them biased for going overboard with their praising of the Polo.

For OD, the only good cars are Honda, Skoda , Mercedes , BWM , Audi and now VW. At least ACI talks about poor Skoda service, OD doesn't even do that! That's how blatantly and shamelessly biased they are!

 

Sorry, I missed the stars somehow I was shocked to read the last paragraph which is all praises for Polo and recommends Polo to all driving enthusiasts. This is in contrast to what people say about Punto. It is slow to reach 0-100kmph, hence it's not for enthusiasts.

 

The biggest joke in that OD comparo was that it was a comparo for premium hatchbacks and they included the Ritz in that shoot out. Now, if someone thinks that the Ritz is a premium hatch, the breaking news here is that even OD didn't believe that! So why did they include the Ritz? In their own words, the Ritz was included because it is THEIR favourite diesel hatchback!! How much more blatantly biased can anyone get?!

Mark my words, Polo is going to be OD's COTY.

 

Excellent piece of analysis, Amit. Slowly and steadily, Fiat ASS is improving a lot, but still, Fiat has a long way to go if it has to sustain the growth.

 

VP - You mentioned some really good points.

About marketing I would like to add this -
The brandname 'Fiat' needs to be pushed really in depth. Most of the people are still not aware / heard that there is some vehicle available in India for more than 12 months named, PUNTO. Most of the guys even can't pronounce it properly. :hit This is in stark contrast with VW - Polo. Even my 5 years old nephew was aware that 'Polo' is coming in the market, well before its launch.
Having said that, I think Fiat is slowing gaining the confidence of Indian customers. But the pace with which its happening is not upto the mark. They need to have more options available in their kitty.

 

@Amit - Those comparison of nos did made huge sense and would increase Fiat's respect in the no. comparison game.
I think number wise, for Punto the one and only one to break is for i20 (correct me if any of the rest 3 'premium' hatches have a higher no.) as,.. Fabia (not a good performer, not good in terms of refinement too perhaps) and Jazz (Priced like a sedan), both of them doest sell in handsome nos.
Really, there is a lot to learn from i20 & Hyundai also, how they have came out with new variants pushing the nos, how they position itself with marketing and stuff like that.

Sedans: Verna - i think it was more positioned as a performance sedan and was not well accepted. While Honda city in same segment was just seeming unbeatable with its projected 3R's (reliability, refinement & Resale). what I find most lacking in City are those sweet features- they are present in minimum in the CITY. But beware, I think Honda will be seriously thinking of those currently given more and more people are pampered in the Linea :dance

 

The marketing team appointed by FIAT seems to be heavily paid by competitors. If I would have been the marketing head, I would have fired them long before. My blood still boils when I hear Bluetooth connectivity is first given in manza, figo and then FIAT copied it. Ford is showing up Figo's features from day one. Ditto for Polo. What FIAT is doing? Showing Yuvi aimlessly driving the Punto, as aimless as his shots these days. Then came the next blunder, introducing a 1.2 version with a rubber burning ad. What the heck. I wonder how common sense is such uncommon with FIAT ad makers.