CASE STUDY ON FIAT INDIA AUTOMOBILES

CASE STUDY PRESENTED BY: Mayank Sharma Nitish Rawat Saurabh Sharma

Fiat India Automobiles Limited Type Industry Founded Joint Venture Automotive 2 January 1997

Headquarters Pune, Maharashtra Key people Mr. Rajeev Kapoor, CEO

Products

Automobiles Engines Transmissions

Parent

Fiat Group Tata Motors

Website

www.fiat-india.com

History of Fiat India Automobiles

Fiat India Automobiles Limited is a 50-50 Joint Venture between Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. of Italy and Tata Motors of India. It is the ninth largest car maker in India by sales.

FIAT was originally incorporated on 2 January 1997. The company presently employs about 2600 employees and is located at Ranjangaon in the Pune District of Maharashtra. The definitive agreement of the Joint Venture between Fiat and Tata was signed on 19 October 2007. The board of directors for this company comprises five nominees each from Fiat and Tata.[1] Earlier, Fiat used to sell the 1100, 124 and Uno in India which was manufactured by Premier Automobiles Limited.

MARKETING STRATEGIES OF FIAT INDIA

Experiential marketing is the new marketing mantra for auto-makers to engage consumers, with Car Cafs becoming the latest trend across the industry. The latest automobile brand to experiment with a similar concept is Fiat India. The Italian car maker has launched a new Fiat Caff in Pune, its second brand showroom in India after opening the first one in New Delhi earlier this year, a move that makes India the only country to have two Fiat Caffs. The cafe was also the venue for the launch of a limited edition Punto Sport. Fiat Caff, which will be managed by Millennium Drive automobiles dealer in Pune, is positioned to offer customers and auto enthusiasts a real Fiat experience. It has a mezzanine floor with a lounge at the caf bar. Customers can go through the latest Fiat India cars on display, take a test drive, as well as browse through a collection of international FIAT merchandise that is available for sale. There is an in house library with books on the automobile brands history, its sub brands, sister companies, and auto and lifestyle magazines. Fiat is among several other automakers like BMW, Mercedes, and Ford who have opened their signature cafes and lounges in the country to attract customers and boost sales. It has also tied up with Lavazza to provide an array of Italian coffee and snacks to its customers and also offers Fiat collectibles at these stores.

Fiat India: Understanding Brand Strategy

In 2006, Fiat India announced a joint venture with Tata Motors under which the two companies merged their respective retail networks. It was perceived to be a masterstroke. And it worked but only for Tata Motors, which got Fiats engines for its cars, and showed a decent increase in sales.

For Fiat, however, the JV did nothing. For example, while the industry recorded a stellar growth rate of almost 30 per cent in the fiscal year ended March, 2011, Fiat was the only company whose volumes actually fell 15 per cent to 21,112 units, giving rise to murmurs that the joint dealerships are pushing Tata products more than Fiat cars. With the Punto and Linea in its portfolio, Fiats market share was less than 1 per cent last fiscal. In contrast, even Volkswagen, which entered India only in 2007, commands a share of 2.04 per cent.

The Grande Punto (a compact hatchback), which Fiat wished to position as a lifestyle product, was supposed to sell 3,000-4,000 units every month, according to internal projections made by the company. However, the car, which starts at Rs 4.45 lakh (exshowroom Mumbai) has a monthly run-rate of just 1,000 units. Compare this with Marutis Swift (Rs 4.43 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai) which sells 12,000-13,000 units every month. ( Business Standard Report)

In the mid-size sedan market, Fiat is way behind everyone else. In fact, Honda and Toyota sell nearly as many Civics & Corollas each at almost twice the price than Fiat sells Lineas. So the massive disconnect with the customers was apparent. So this was somewhere in the middle of 2011. Fiat then pushed its brain hard enough to get its act together. Working on the sales and distribution was one, better customer connect the other.

With the JV being somewhat figured, the next job up the sleeve was to gain customer attention. They roped in Saints and Warriors in Nov 2011 for an ad campaign which would be rolled out in first week of January 2012. The Fiat Ocean Campaign. Wat

The agency says - We struck up on an insight that the passion of the Fiat brand to achieve against the odds was a trait that the TG identified with even in their own personal lives. In the new Fiat Linea and Punto 2012 ocean campaign, the depth of the ocean became a simile for the depth of passion needed to achieve something special. The challenges of building a car against the odds under the ocean was the creative backdrop for the core message.

1.

The art-house: If the message to be communicated was a car being assembled against all odds and the metaphorical extension to real-life achievers who would identify with the same and link to the brand, the commercial fails to deliver it. I get a feel that its really weird to have shot it in a Nat-Geo style. No doubt the agency would have had a tough time shooting the commercial and then lacing it up with the graphics. Kudos for that! But wait, pistons swimming like fish! Cmon give me a break.

2.

Features: The upgraded four features to communicate were powerful ground clearance, automatic rain sensing wipers, brighter dualtone interiors and automatic headlamps. Which literally go unnoticed unless you watch the commercial twice. To add, if the communication was the communication that Fiats models are now available in Oceanic Blue color. Seriously, now you are just being desperate to force fit.

3.

The positioning line - Got Heart!: The agency says - With the idea that those who truly have a deep passion to create something unique and meaningful are personalities who have got heart to take on come-what-may and succeed, the positioning line for Fiat crystallised into the phrase Got Heart! This sat well not just with the target audiences persona, but also the product, as Fiat cars have at their heart some of the most advanced engines in the world. Doesnt bode well at all. It is trying to mix three things at once

Communication of technology/ features, Creating an emotional connect with the TG and of course keeping in mind the Ocean metaphor

4.

Production Value and Voice Over: The production value is great. But the only distinct thing about the commercial is the baritone VO. Even that goes for a toss with the abysmal copy. The words lack coherence and the tone cadence

Fiat Plans To Revise Its Strategy in India

The major Italian auto giant Fiat is planning to revise its strategies for the Indian market to fortify its local distribution network as well as its lined-up products in India. The senior most officials of Fiat Group Automobiles visited the country in the recent past to discuss and craft fresh strategies with the local management of Fiat. The Fiat will be revising its plan of action to reconstruct its brand equity in India. With revised plans, the Italian carmaker wishes to introduce few great models in the country and desire to commence with the launch of a facelifted hatchback Punto and a sedan Linea. Thereafter a small compact car from the brand is queued up for the launch from the lined-up products, as per company sources. Hatchback Punto and sedan Linea are already a part of companys portfolio but still the cars hasnt been able to turn the tides for the company till yet. Currently the Italian auto chief is selling its products through Tata Motors dealerships but soon the company has thought of setting up new separate showrooms to sell its brand of cars in the country. One of the top executive from the company expressed, Although Fiat India will look at separate showrooms; its joint venture partner Tatas will continue to support the marketing efforts.

Fiat to expand presence in Indian market

Italian car maker Fiat plans to increase its presence in India with a network of dedicated dealers and is also looking at introducing more brands from its global portfolio. Launching Fiat India's first exclusive dealership in Hyderabad Wednesday, Enrico Atanasio, head-commercial, Fiat India, told reporters that they were originally planning 20 dedicated dealers during the current year but now plan to accelerate this.

Fiat, which recently ended a six-year distribution agreement with Tata Motors, plans to set up a new company to sell its models in India. Enrico, who would head the proposed company, said through the dedicated dealers they wanted to create a real and stronger brand experience for Fiat. "We consider India as an important market and the company to be set up in near future will leverage this potential," he said. Fiat India, a joint venture between Italian carmaker fiat and Tata Motors limited, currently sells 20,000 cars per year, a market share of 0.7 percent. "I expect a growing role for Fiat in India. Today we are 8 percent in European market, 18 percent in Latin America and 12 percent in USA market. There is no reason why we can't improve our current market situation (in India) which is much much lower," he said but declined to give any figures.

"Fiat is one of the best known brands in the world market because of its past. It takes time to move from past to future. We need to train strong force and have right process and people,IJ he said. Fiat's 1100 sedan was sold in India from the mid-1950s to 1997, first as the Fiat 1100 Delight and then as the Premier Padmini. It later sold the Fiat Uno. It currently sells the Linea, Palio and Punto models in India, and is also analyzing introduction of more brands from a portfolio which includes Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep. Enrico claimed that there are already good signs of Fiat's performance in India with better results in the first quarter of this year compared to the last quarter of previous year. Fiat India's first dealership Tejaswi Motors has opened in upmarket Banjara Hills in Hyderabad. The dealership will retail the Linea and Punto.