Even today Fiat India holds a miniscule market share of less than 1% with 1625 cars sold last month. Nissan which launched the Micra Last month is already on the heels and even Mahindra's Logan is doing similar numbers by itself. Why then has a company that always dances to the tunes of success at each car launch fades away into oblivion quickly? Case in point being the PAL 1100 in 1954 to Fiat Palio in 1999 to Punto/Linea in 2009.
Fiat got its first entry through the PAL venture in 1951 via the 500. Surprisingly, at the moment Fiat 500 is also the newest model in the Fiat lineup. Sad then, that none have been sold in the last few months. Even sad since the Fiat 500 is a cheaper premium car at 14 lacs than the Volkswagen Beetle at 21 lacs and even sad then that the car design, interiors, features, engine and whatever remains jointly make up for an awesome car. What???? You never knew fiat 500 is for sale? Mr Rajeev Kapoor, are you listening?
For a car that is supposed to be a brand building exercise for Fiat India the awareness is just not there. For comparison Volkswagen flew 38 Beetles off its showroom floor.
PS: I definitely don't know if that red interior should get a thumbs up or a thumbs down. It definitely is noticeable though.
Fiat Linea
European brands are always known for their luxury, technology and understated elegance. Not to mention that Style comes naturally especially if you are European.
No wonder the Fiat Linea made all the right noise at launch. Priced much below its actual rivals and engineered to detail, Fiat Linea increased the sales for Fiat India by four folds. The Small capacity petrol and the Infamous diesel engine were an icing on the cake along with class leading features. But Fiat is known to spoil its own party. While they provided better after sales service, the interior plastics were pathetic enough to shame a maruti 800. Yes, The circulation vent plastics were that bad. The glass window liners in some cars I personally saw were deep and uneven. And slowly and gradually tata dealers started pushing the slow moving Linea to the back while promoting the easy to sell Indigo Manza.
Whatever makes one feel that a 1000000 INR Linea and 100000 Nano can be sold on the same showroom floor needs a reality check. I would suggest that Fiat India atleast gets one dedicated Fiat only showroom in most major metros. The people mover image of Tata is certainly rubbing over Fiat. A dedicated luxury showroom in every major metro will help solve this issue.
Additionally selling at a lower price point is just bringing losses to the company? Why sell a car at Rs. 8.00 lacs when other competitors are selling their offerings at 11.00 lacs? A 3.00 lacs prices difference cannot be justified for lack of a powerful engine. But, It does justify your poor plastics. Sell first, service will follow and so will word of mouth marketing.
Here are some numbers to show where Fiat Linea stands compared to rivals.
Mitsubishi Lancer +Cedia 58
Chevrolet Optra 236
Volkswagen Jetta 254
Honda Civic 574
Fiat Linea 724
Toyota Corolla 1082
Volkswagen Vento 1364
Hyundai Verna 1818
Maruti Sx4 1965
Honda City 6164
Considering Mitsubishi Lancer+Cedia are outdated and HM is an even pitiable situation to Fiat India and that Chevrolet Optra is at the end of its line, only the more expensive Jetta and ergonomic mistake the Honda Civic are behind the Linea. But if I am an analyst at Fiat India I will not the numbers put in by the uber succesful Honda city, the Maruti (does one really care what model it is?) SX4 and Hyundai Verna.
I definitely hope that the Fiat India chiefs put their other gremlins aside and make sure that the Linea t-jet launch at hand get Fiat Linea number again in the 1500 cars a month territory on a constant basis. Here is an ad showing how Italians are as good with advertisements as with their designs.
Fiat Punto
Sales zoomed from 200 units a month from the Palio to about 2500 units every month with the help of the new car that Fiat recently launched. The Tata Fiat Service announcement and stress on After sales were a big boost. Fiat made all the right noise and people took notice. The petrol and diesel variants covered all the price points against the competition. Until a few months ago, Fiat stopped advertising and promotions of their new cars. Stock market received the news that all is not well between Fiat and tata. Sales for the Punto hover around 900 units while competitions sells over 5000 units on an average.
The problem? There are quite a few here. For a car that competes with Maruti Swift that sells 11000 units a month, something is definitely wrong. To begin with Tata dealers try to push the Indica Vista to the buyers. Secondly, It's not the salesman's fault since the Indica Vista does make the Punto look a bad bargain. Obvisouly since not many are going to check how reassuring the thud is or how precise the steering is. These are some of the features that need to be communicated through various ads. I really like how Volkswagen Polo commercials stress on their handling, safety and durability. No doubts then that Polo sells more than its cousins Skoda Fabia.
Thirdly, The interior plastics as mentioned before rob the car of its upmarket image. One should not consider this fact with Honda city, since it is a car that has defied most logics. Time to improve on those. And why sell your cars at a discount? Fourthly, the Fiat palio Multijet was never advertised. How is the car buying public supposed to know that such a car exists? The launch of Toyota Etios are definitely not going to help things. For a car which is supposed to be the bread and butter for the company, the state of things are definitely pitiable.
PS: Launch the Fiat sport advertised at the Auto Expo with the new t-jet 1.4 albeit in a limited 100-200 units complete with the racing stripe. Also, I supposedly know that Fiat makes a quick buck from each maruti Swift and Maruti ritz diesel sold in India. (Hint, Hint) Put that in the advertisements.
Units sold last month
Skoda Fabia 256
Chevrolet U-VA 283
Honda Jazz 649
Fiat Punto 902
Nissan Micra 1183
Volkswagen Polo 2891
Tata Indica Vista 6258
Maruti Ritz 6408
Ford Figo 6465
Hyundai I20 7680
Maruti Swift 11913
Tata dealers
Tata is a great car brand and respectedly holds the tag for being India's second largest car maker. Those who buy tata car belong to the group of anti-liberalists for whom anything outside Maruti and Tata is not a car. The salesman standing in the Tata showroom doesnt know that an anti-roll bar is and whether the same engine goes in the Punto as the Indica Vista. Those who buy a Honda City or a Vw Jetta definitely do not enter the Tata showroom since the two crowds are different. That is the first speedbump. For those who might want to give a try to a luxurious fiat car still finds it tough since the Showroom people dont want to put that extra effort (Similar commission levels?) in selling a Fiat which has a tarnished history and reputation in India. That is the second speedbump. When it comes to after sales, Maruti rules with a sheer number of service centers around the country with quality be damned followed by other car makers such as Hyundai and Honda. Tata definitely doesnt feature on the right side of the list of good service providers. This definitely does not go down well for Fiat. This is the third speedbump which is enough to loosen most screw on Fiat India's success ride.
While Tata-fiat joint dealership is an excellent way to reach a wider audience, Fiat needs dedicated Showrooms in metros too. These dedicated showrooms should be willing to burn mid night oil in building the brand for Fiat against Honda, Mitsubishi, VW and Skoda. Their workshops providing excellent technical guidance and after sales service which makes customer smile. These dedicated dealerships will help give justice to Fiat India's efforts such as Fiat first
PS: My Honda Jazz gets picked up by the Honda dealer, service and delivered to my doorstep. Lesson learnt?
New models and promotional blitz
Fiat Italy has been on the verge of posting huge losses and came out strongly. Mr. Sergio has recently also acquired controlling stake in Chrysler USA. Alfa Romeo sale and losing market share in Europe are but small problems for the ferrari and maserati owner. The shareholders have also finally given green signal into breaking the company down in a car making division and a component and trucks division. But Fiat has not moved an inch in India since its inception playing the hit... hit... missed game all along.
Fiat should concentrate their marketing muscle on television and newspaper media where the subject is comparing the linea and Punto to their competitive offerings. The car buying public needs to know they have an option which is really that much better and atleast worth a look. An occassional ad about Fiat 500 will also help build the brand image for the company.
Ranjangaon plant is definitely buzzing right now and Fiat is making the DDIS engine that is powering more cars than Fiat has on their lineup. This definitely calls for more cars to be offered for sale based on the same platform. A rebadged Opel Corsa can be introduced to play the two model card that Maruti is successfully playing with Ritz and Swift. This will help Fiat introduce more models to cover a wider product range and offer a car for each segment at every price. This move will also help in cost efficiency since both the Corsa and Grande Punto alongwith Linea are based on the same GM Gamma platform.
PS: Dont make the same mistake of not upgrading the engine, design and interiors like with the Fiat Palio Stile. Your experience proved it was a disaster. Nice ad though.
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