Better Days for Fiat?
Fiat had never had things going good for them in India. It dates back to the days of tie up with Premiere whose plants were closed due to a forgettable strike and their models died a slow death. When Fiat returned to India with Uno, and then Palio, Siena and Petra, they had good cars with them but poor economy and bad after sales let them down.
Now there is some chance that Fiat may see better days in India. A new, re-worked Palio, which is expected to be more efficient and economical is hitting the Indian roads in April. Most Indian car buyers do understand that Palio is a great car from a great company, but fuel efficiency and after sales worries had kept them away. The deal with Tata Motors for sales and service should help them get over the worries of bad service. Current Palio sales have also increased marginally since the service agreement with Tata Motors. And if the new Palio can actually give a much better fuel economy, it could eat some market share from Swift and Getz, and even the smaller cars. But a 54bhp engine seems to be a very underpowered compared to its counterparts and should be something for Fiat to worry about.