Fiat India separates from Tata Motors, says its ready to ‘make a move’

IndianAutosBlog.com attended Fiat India's 'The Move’ press conference this morning in Mumbai. This press conference was carefully crafted to communicate three strong messages -

• Fiat India is now separated from Tata Motors
• The Italian automaker has made certain ‘moves’ to reiterate its commitment towards India
• Fiat is ready to deliver what India deserves

Here are the steps taken to achieve these three objectives -

Fiat India is now separated from Tata Motors

• Although the announcement of Fiat India separating from Tata Motors was communicated approximately a year back, April 1, 2013 marks the official date of the divorce with Tata Motors.
• The Italian automaker has established an exclusive network of 51 dealers till date. Fiat plans to double this number by the end of the fiscal year.
• Work on 16 more dealership is already underway and they should be open shortly.
• Fiat has established its own 24X7 call center and a 60,000 sq.ft. warehouse to store spare parts.
• All the existing Fiat owners who purchased their cars from Tata-Fiat dealerships will be contacted via SMS and email on the new dealerships and service centers. There will also be some special service camps for these customers in the coming weeks.

The Italian automaker has made certain ‘Moves’ to reiterate its commitment towards India

• The first move is the appointment of Nagesh Basavanhalli as the new President and MD of Fiat-Chrysler India. Basavanhalli will spearhead Fiat India’s ambitious plan to achieve 5 percent market share by 2016.
• Fiat India will launch a 360 degree marketing campaign called ‘Make a Move’ to rebuild its brand image. The campaign will cover digital, print, TV and on-the-ground activities over the next six weeks.
• The automaker has extensively invested in training skilled labor to work at its new dealership network.
• The company is working on launching new Fiat Cafes to bolster its image in India.
• The automaker is also working on improving service experience by providing the new service stations with high tech machinery and well trained staff.
• The company plans to have mobile service cars that will provide car service at customer’s doorstep.

 Fiat is ready to deliver what India deserves

• Fiat India acknowledged in the press conference that so far the Italian automaker has not delivered to Indian expectations. Fiat assured that in the coming years it will completely change the status quo.
• The automaker has readied an onslaught of products from Fiat, Chrysler and Abarth stables for the Indian market, which it wasn't willing to dwell on in today's meeting.
• For here on, Fiat India will focus on three pillars - brand building, production and distribution.
• The company has chalked out a 3 year/100,000 km warranty on its products to assure the customer a complete peace of mind. The warranty can be extended 150,000/5 years at a nominal cost.

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