Riding on success, Fiat goes to step 2

Fiat is alive and kicking sitting on TATA power. From the dwindling 100 Palios sold every month to the 2000 odd cars leaving the showroom Fiat has shown Indians that the word renaissance came from Italy. TATA has also helped improve the After Sales and Spares issues that used to plague Fiat India of old. Now that things have fallen into place Fiat is taking the next step.

Fiat 500 has sold 62 units since launch to date. While many trade pundits has written it as a failure, Its surprising how the 500 has helped Fiat gain brand image while raking in moolah. The 500 fits 4 metre mark in size and the 1500cc engine specification leading to a competitive price. Even with 100% import duty (the car is imported as a CBU from Italy) the car is getting Fiat India a fat margin. Also to be considered is the fact that Fiat has hardly spent Marketing money behind the car and that the engine is the same that goes in Swift, Ritz, Dzire, Linea, Palio Stile, Punto, Indigo Manza and Indica Vista. They can certainly do better than the higher priced Beetle from VW which also has fewer dealers and lesser brand awareness in India as of now.

Fiat Punto Sport is coming soon (2-3 months). The more powerful tune of the same diesel engine will now be putting out 90bhp of power (up 15bhp) and 209 nm of torque (up by 12 nm). Goodies promised are an electric sunroof, matching upholstry, smoked headlamps, 16-inch tyres and a higher price range. Punto will surely sell better than the already dead Honda Jazz at the higher price point looking at the goodies thrown in for 7 lacs.

Fiat and T-jet are almost spoken in one breath most of the times. The magic is coming to India. The linea will boast a 1.4 t-jet diesel churning out 110bhp-120 bhp depending on the state of tune and the turbo charger. Expect a minor interior and exterior facelift including an improvement in those cheap plastic  bits that made you delay your purchase.