Reference Auto

The government’s move to hike petrol prices by Rs 7.50 per litre will surely deter buyers from acquiring such cars, and so, could it serve as an advantage to Fiat, which has rolled out the Punto Sport diesel for Rs 7.36 lakh?

Fiat’s presence in India is far from substantial, and after severing ties with Tata Motors, the Italian auto major is left to fend for itself in a market inundated with strong brands like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Honda, Chevrolet, Ford and Tata Motors, among others.

One way Fiat could have made inroads into the Indian market is by pricing its cars lower than competitors in the highly price-sensitive Indian market.

Unfortunately, it has been rigid in its pricing. So, it found few takers, first for its Palio and Siena, and later for its Punto.

But Fiat has the world’s best diesel engine and the company should drive home this point to the Indian customer to rev up sales.

Even the Fiat Punto Sport, a limited edition car, is steeply priced (at Rs 7.3 lakh). The Punto Sport diesel comes with a turbo-charged 1.3-litre multi-jet diesel engine that belts out 93 PS @ 4,000 rpm and 209 Nm torque @ 2,000 rpm.

Its turbocharger also paves the way for fuel efficiency of 20.5 km to a litre, which would make it ideal for Indian roads.

The exteriors and interiors come with a Midas touch, which is the work of Designer of the Century, Giorgetto Giugiaro.

On the safety side, the Fiat Punto Sport comes equipped with a unique fire prevention system, immobilizer along with rolling code, central door locking, door open indicator, automatic door lock, seat belts that can be adjustable in height and anti-lock braking system (ABS) with EBD.

It also has three-point ELR seat belts with pretensioners and load limiters, dual stage (front) airbags with early crash sensors along with passenger airbag deactivation. The limited edition also has rear and colour-coded door mirrors and special side decals.

Fiat has also taken the comfort factor into consideration. Fiat Punto Sport diesel offers power steering, tilt steering, clutch foot rest, power windows with delay and auto down function, outside rear view mirrors which are electronically adjustable, rear window (wiper and washer), and rear defogger that comes with timer.

The limited edition Punto Sport Grande will be available in three exquisite colours, namely, Bossa Nova White, Hip Hop Black and Exotica Red.

This car also scores on the entertainment front. The Punto Sport diesel has integrated CD/MP3 and FM player with four speakers, steering-mounted audio, Blue and Me TM controls and Blue and Me TM (with USB port).

So, for Fiat to use the advantage of a diesel vehicle to scale up sales of its cars may require the Italian major to seriously contemplate changing its pricing strategy as a low-cost car is the first step to wooing the Indian customer.

The Santro has been in India for over a decade now and has fallen to cannibalisation by Hyundai’s new cars like the i10 along with the newly rolled out cheap car Eon, and in order to revive the sagging sales of its once-popular Santro, the Korean car major has rolled out the Celebration Edition of the hatchback to celebrate 15 years of the car’s existence while the new Fiat Punto Sport is unlikely to shake up the market.

Fiat has been facing a litany of problems since its India foray – its marketing strategy has remained shoddy, it caters to a small section of car buyers with little variety in its products, after sales service has been dismal, its tie-up with the Tatas had gone awry – even though the cars Fiat offers are world class but with the rollout of its 2013 Linea T-Jet, which comes with a price cut, will it get a fresh lease of life?

Fiat has slashed the T-Jet’s prices, which now start at an economical Rs 7.6 lakh, while the Dynamic variant is priced at Rs 8.4 lakh and the top-end Emotion comes for Rs 8.8 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The 2013 Linea T-Jet rolled out is the first and only turbo-petrol sedan in its segment.

However, the new Fiat Linea car has seen little change in terms of drivetrain, with the new model coming with the ditto 1.4 litre turbo petrol engine that belts out 114 PS at 5,000 rpm and 207 Nm at 2,200 rpm.

Fiat claims the new T-Jet offers a fuel efficiency of 15.7 km per litre, which is commendable though.

The new 2013 T-Jet is now available across versions, with all the three variants having the engine. Earlier, only the top-end one came with the T-Jet power.

There are some cosmetic changes in the new Fiat Linea T-Jet, which is almost the same as the one launched a few months back. Fiat, like other manufacturers such as Volkswagen and Ford, has rolled out small capacity forced induction petrol engines in cars, which are priced below Rs 10 lakh.

Fiat is offering quite a bit even in the base variant. The Active (base) model is well spaced, with ABS and disc brakes, which are present in all four corners. Also on offer are auto on-off headlamps and rain sensing wipers along with electric outside rear view mirrors.

The Dynamic (higher) model comes with Blue and Me Bluetooth connectivity, climate control, dual airbags and a rear AC. In addition, the Emotion (top) version gets leather seats, rear sun curtains along with 16-inch wheels on tyres.

Fiat has 75 dealers in India, and of them, 58 are active. The company needs to rev up on the dealer front and make its parts available widely if it wants to see a revival of its fortunes. According to buzz, the company may be ramping up dealerships this year itself.

Fiat India president and managing director Nagesh Basavanhalli said, “With the Linea T-Jet, we are looking to sell at least 50 cars every month in eight cities where we plan to roll out the new variant initially.”

Fiat hopes to roll out nine more vehicles in three years, which includes the coveted American Jeep brand. The SUV market in India has been witnessing steep growth over the last few years and Fiat hopes to cash in on it.

For Fiat, which has launched the new Linea T-Jet, to get a fresh lease of life would require it to rev up after sales service along with marketing (its cars are among the best in terms of quality), and most importantly, bring in more cars in the Rs 3 lakh-Rs 7 lakh price bracket.

Fiat’s journey into India has been a bumpy one despite a tie up with Tata Motors but the Italian company seems to be lining up plans to launch a small car and is also contemplating bringing in a new model under the completely-built unit or the CBU that are likely to come with new engine technology, Fiat’s USP.

Seeing the country’s small car market sizzle, Fiat India president and CEO Rajeev Kapoor said. “There are eclectic routes and opportunities to launch a car in India and the completely-built unit route is one of them. Every route is open to us and we are still evaluating our options.”

He, however, declined to divulge details such as the model the company plans to bring in and a possible time-frame of the vehicle’s launch.

Currently, Fiat India is developing an India-specific small car at its research facility in Turin (Italy) and is taking a feedback from its India unit in order to focus on the needs of the domestic customer. The small car is likely to roll out from Fiat’s plant in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra.

Kapoor had said the car could be similar to or even smaller than its existing hatchback, the Palio.

“The small car is undergoing development. We had earlier announced that we wanted to launch it in 2012. The exact timing and details will be revealed when we are ready with the product,” Kapoor added.

It was during the Auto Expo in January last year that the company had unveiled its plan to develop a small car for India’s market and had targeted localisation of nearly a whopping 85 per cent for the car’s parts.

Meanwhile, Fiat India has restructured its board with the replacement of two directors. The 10-member board has equal participation from Fiat Group Automobiles SpA and Tata Motors.

As part of the reshuffle, Giovanni Bartoli and Harald Jakob Wester have moved back to Fiat’s headquarters in Italy.

In their place, the company has brought in Gianni Coda and Alessandro G Baldi as directors in Fiat India Automobiles. Fiat has also appointed Ezio Barra and Giovanni Sella as alternate directors for Coda and Baldi, in case Coda and Baldi are not available.

Speculation is rife that Fiat’s small car could contend with Maruti’s Alto and Chevrolet’s Spark, and with the quality of Fiat’s engine being the Italian car major’s USP, we could expect the latest engine technology to come with the Italian firm’s cars.

Moreover, with Fiat being the leader in diesel technology, a diesel variant could be expected soon enough, and with fuel prices hitting the roof, a diesel small car could become the cynosure of all eyes in India, provided the price is not too steep.