[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Wow !! This is a surprise to me. The July Month of Autocar Mag says that 500L would be a 7 seater and compete with Ertiga. I feel it would be priced close to Innova at point of launch.

I was confused whether 500L is a extended Hatch like Mini cooper or an MUV like Innova/Ertiga (ignore price).

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Motorbeam indicates 500L as an Ertiga Rival.

Fiat 500 7-Seater MPV Is Ertiga Rival | MotorBeam - Indian Car Bike News & Reviews

Ahah! So they're planning on a 7-seater version of the 5-seater 500L

Fiat also plans to launch a full-sized MPV on the 500 platform, which would be a 7-seater version of the 500L. This vehicle is still under development and is most likely to be launched in India by 2014. The Fiat 500 7-Seater MPV will rival the Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. It will be priced between Rs. 7-9 lakhs and will be powered by the 1.3-litre Multijet diesel engine.

The biggest bummer though is the non-entry of the MultiAir engines by Fiat

Fiat India does not plan to get the MultiAir engines in the near future and the 500 MPV will be offered with the 1.4-litre FIRE engine which does duty on the Linea.

I thought Fiat would do well to bring the MultiAir motors here. But considering our love for the dirty-fuel, I guess that's highly unlikely. With the introduction of the EcoSport's EcoBoost engine (hopefully?) Ford would be setting a benchmark and I was hoping Fiat would follow. India needs better and more efficient engines considering that we're one of the fastest growing automobile markets in the World today.

The 500X is also slated for launch in the coming years. But something tells me that these cars would require a helluva lot of localization if they need to meet the price-target. Or else, we could see more failures from the Fiat brand. Unfortunately.

All this of course, if Motorbeam is a source that's reliable enough.

I don't think Fiat would launch the 500 or any of its variants. I hope they bring the Panda.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The biggest bummer though is the non-entry of the MultiAir engines by Fiat



I thought Fiat would do well to bring the MultiAir motors here. But considering our love for the dirty-fuel, I guess that's highly unlikely. With the introduction of the EcoSport's EcoBoost engine (hopefully?)

The problem with Multiair is that

1: It is expensive to make so will not work here
2: Based on the test drive reports, you need to rev the nuts off it to get the performance hence impacting fuel consumption. This has also happened for the Ford Focus ecoboost
3: It exists since under constant driving conditions for fuel and emission certification, it gives a low carbon emission rate hence qualifying for low tax.

In short, realistic conditions are totally different. Saying that 105 Bhp from a two cylinder engine is pure genius.

[download2live]

The very 500 moniker should tell us that this one is not going to be cheap.
And hence should be off the radar of aam-junta(How I hate this word).

What they need most now is Awesome Advertisement blitz and a 1.6 in diesel. Selling a Punto Sports at almost 8.8 lacs on road price with a 1.3 engine is stupidity. Person spending 8.8 on a Hatchback will not have fuel efficiency in mind.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by TRANSAM

Mods, sorry for posting in probably the wrong thread, Mumbai has just got its first ABARTH 695 Triburto Ferrari (fiat 500) in red with White stripes. Had great interiors and was being driven by a chauffer, couldnt click a suitable picture, but the car had the Abarth Monogram..

Its been here for a while. It had also participated in the Supercar Rally earlier this year. Below pic posted by //M in another thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2771987

[TRANSAM]

Originally Posted by PPS

Its been here for a while. It had also participated in the Supercar Rally earlier this year. Below pic posted by //M in another thread - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...ml#post2771987

Great, missed my attention on the other thread , i believe it was priced at 19lacs here or as an import. Looks like this came in with the lot that were sold initially by Fiat.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by TRANSAM

i believe it was priced at 19lacs here or as an import. Looks like this came in with the lot that were sold initially by Fiat.

19 lakhs was for the 75bhp multijet. But this particular edition would be a lot more expensive, i believe it comes with a 180bhp T-jet engine.

[Mindgrinder]

Just got this news from Fiat India facebook page.

Italian carmaker Fiat plans to drive in sports utility vehicles in India soon to boost its market share, a senior executive told ET.

more on the source link below:

Italian carmaker Fiat plans to drive in SUVs in India - The Economic Times


seems like Fiat would be entering the new market at right time, i hope they get proper engines and pricing this time, considering India in mind.

[scopriobharath]

Originally Posted by download2live

The very 500 moniker should tell us that this one is not going to be cheap.
And hence should be off the radar of aam-junta(How I hate this word).

One thought that hits me though is that Fiat 500 costs 25lacs nearly. How would an extended wheelbase, with 2 more seats costs 50% less or heck at least be around the 2 million mark. Something does not fit here.

[scuderiamania]

Just had a look at the fiat Uk website. The Qubo is not going to work here for sure. That pig-like face combined with the sliding doors [not matter how convenient they are, when it comes to styling most would prefer standard doors] will make sure not many it out the showroom doors. As for the 500L, it could go up against the likes of Ecosport and Duster.

[RSR]

Wow! That is good to hear. The mini-SUV and mini-MPV segments are becoming hot all of a sudden. The level of competition in these segments could very well reach that of the large hatch space where it is so fierce that global giants like Toyota and Volkswagen are finding the going tough and a local giant-cum-pioneer like Tata is struggling to stay in the race. Competition sure is a great thing to have!

I'm not sure if Fiat are going to get the pricing of the 500X and 500L right as their strategy remains unknown. They cannot import these as CBUs like the 500 if they want them to sell in numbers. The Qubo, on the other hand, is a great candidate for local production. I've always wondered why Fiat don't introduce it here. It would be an ideal product with its sub-4m length and the 1.25l Multijet engine.

The article also mentions that Toyota are considering the Rush. If true, it can work wonders for Toyota after the lukewarm response to their sub-million rupee models. The Rush is also sold under the Daihatsu badge as the Terios (current generation) while Premier sell a rebadged, Chinese-made version (Zotye Nomad) of the previous generation TeRIOs. Any prizes for guessing which Terios will sell in larger numbers?

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by RSR

The article also mentions that Toyota are considering the Rush. If true, it can work wonders for Toyota after the lukewarm response to their sub-million rupee models. The Rush is also sold under the Daihatsu badge as the Terios (current generation) while Premier sell a rebadged, Chinese-made version (Zotye Nomad) of the previous generation TeRIOs. Any prizes for guessing which Terios will sell in larger numbers?

God bless if such a thing happens. An entire thread is discussing the same thing. A Toyota Rush LWB with 7seats, or even the 5 seater will do. Plonk in the 1.4 D-4D(BTW,Rush doesn't have diesel heart), and put it in Duster territory.History will be Written.
But other than Avanza like speculation nothing is official about Rush.

[Mindgrinder]

Originally Posted by scuderiamania

Just had a look at the fiat Uk website. The Qubo is not going to work here for sure. That pig-like face combined with the sliding doors [not matter how convenient they are, when it comes to styling most would prefer standard doors] will make sure not many it out the showroom doors. As for the 500L, it could go up against the likes of Ecosport and Duster.

i agree with you, i believe Panda would make more sense instead of qubo, but qubo could be redefining the segment if marketed properly, remember Santro's tallboy design marketing?

[mayankjha1806]

This is one segment where FIAT can do wonders if done right. We dont really have too many choices in this segment, whatever is available is either too expensive or does not have a good finesse that one would look from such expensive vehicles.

Looked at some of the pictures of 500L and 500X, does not look like a huge SUV. At the most it looks slightly bigger than sedans and maybe similar to Ertiga in terms of size.

[speedmiester]

Good move by Fiat, but unless they localise the production and manufacture the cars in India. It will be another failed opportunity.
Fiat also needs to to price the two cars well to appeal to the masses.

[hemanth.anand]

Apart from the Jeep, only the 500X seems to be 'workable' in India.

Qubo can compete with Omni/Eeco but for that to be successful, the rural dealership network should be strong which is not the case with Fiat.

500L looks like a blown up hatch and not a mini SUV (There is a fine line of seperation between the two IMO).

Although Jeep will be a hit it may not be a mass seller.
If I were in Fiat, I would price it between Bolero and Thar
But then that is "If I were in Fiat"

Continuing with "If I were in Fiat", I would bring replace 500L with Panda and bring Jeep, Panda, 500X and Qubo(not whole heartedly though).
This will ensure that there will be a Fiat in 6 different segments including the existing 2 segments. 6 different segments will be a good strategy.

Crossover segment is getting hotter by the day.
With so many releases, I'm looking forward to each one of them.