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Technical Our 5.5 hour ordeal with two month old GP Dualogic

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Technical Our 5.5 hour ordeal with two month old GP Dualogic

TroyO said:
I saw a Grande Punto on the road for the first time just last weekend. I have seen heaps of Ducatos around.

I got the sales figures from

http://www.autoindustries.com.au/sales/

It doesn't give a model by model breakdown I'm afraid.

However this site does

http://www.automotivepersonnel.com.au/news/

you have to sign in but it's free to register. Here is what I gleaned from that site with regards to Grande Punto registrations

June : 13
July : 47
August : 53
September : 51
October : 65
November : 55
December : 51

That would give total sales so far as 335.

Troy.
Click to expand...

I have to say i think that is quite good to say they are in a country which doesnt take to diesel, doesnt like small cars and havent had Fiat for so long.
Not a bad go really.
I can only see that as a positive.
Just wait till you get Panda, Croma and Trepuino.... haha
 
fiatdownunder said:
I have to say i think that is quite good to say they are in a country which doesnt take to diesel, doesnt like small cars and havent had Fiat for so long.
Not a bad go really.
I can only see that as a positive.
Just wait till you get Panda, Croma and Trepuino.... haha
Click to expand...

Diesels are starting to take off. Peugeot and VW have done well with 307 and Golf diesels in 2006, I see plenty of those around. A number of problems I see are

1. The brand is new in Australia as you have said.

2. The pricing is not as sharp as it can be, especially in the upper spec models (Emotion and Sport). The can't be expected to match the price of the Korean and Jap cars, but they could be competitive with other Euro b-segment cars like the Fiesta, Polo, C3, 206 and others (eg Polo GTI is AU$27k, while the Punto Sport is AU$28K). The small car segment is very competitive over here.

3. I believe there is a bit of a Fiat It Again Tony mentality amongst the buying public, despite the fact that most have never driven or owned a Fiat. Old prejudices die hard. Still the importer is trying to overcome this by pitching to a younger market segment that would have never had any sort of experience with Fiat.

An expanded range would help things. For example Citroen have always been a real niche seller in this country, and have alway been seen as those weird complicated French things (a legacy of the hyropnuematic cars). Even they managed 3000 cars because they have a good spread of cars (C2, C3, C4, C5 and even the C6). So I hope the importer will be pressing to get the Bravo here as soon as possible. Oh and the Panda 100HP. :)

Troy.
 
I quite like the look of the Panda 100HP, but I don't think they're bringing it here :(

It would be nice if the GP was a bit cheaper, but I think it does have the specs to justify the price if you think about it.
 
look at the package and nobody can realy beat the GP.
Standard spec is high.
Servicing intervals longer.
best fuel economy.

when you stack it all up yes it may be a little bit more expensive but all in all works out cheaper than it's competitors!

And sorry, the Panda wont be on these shores for a long time yet. we almost got it at the end of 06 but the cost is way to high at the mo.
You Ozzies are holding it back waiting to see how the GP goes before putting your hand up for anymore FIAT's. TBH i think that Ateco will just wait for the 500 instead.
 
fiatdownunder said:
look at the package and nobody can realy beat the GP.
Standard spec is high.
Servicing intervals longer.
best fuel economy.

when you stack it all up yes it may be a little bit more expensive but all in all works out cheaper than it's competitors!
Click to expand...

Spoken like a true salesman :D

Well I hope you sell tons out there.....then you can offer me a job ;)
 
fiatdownunder said:
look at the package and nobody can realy beat the GP.
Standard spec is high.
Servicing intervals longer.
best fuel economy.

when you stack it all up yes it may be a little bit more expensive but all in all works out cheaper than it's competitors!

And sorry, the Panda wont be on these shores for a long time yet. we almost got it at the end of 06 but the cost is way to high at the mo.
You Ozzies are holding it back waiting to see how the GP goes before putting your hand up for anymore FIAT's. TBH i think that Ateco will just wait for the 500 instead.
Click to expand...

The Dynamic is well priced yes compared to the Euro competition, but I think the Emotion and Sport are too expensive, it's very close in price to some of the more expensive C segment cars (Focus Zetec $27.5k, 307XSE $29k, C4 $30k) all of which are similarly or better equipped. It will be interesting to see how it competes price wise with the Peugeot 207 (similar size to the Punto) when it arrives here in March. Shave a couple of grand of the price of the Emotion and Sport and you have a competitive package. The feeling I get is that Ateco are expective most of their sales to be the lower end.

What are the service intervals for the Grande Punto (in NZ)?

I hope Fiat does well in this country, we have been waiting too long. It's tough being a Fiat enthusiast here when there have been no cars to buy.

Troy.
 
TroyO said:
The Dynamic is well priced yes compared to the Euro competition, but I think the Emotion and Sport are too expensive, it's very close in price to some of the more expensive C segment cars (Focus Zetec $27.5k, 307XSE $29k, C4 $30k) all of which are similarly or better equipped. It will be interesting to see how it competes price wise with the Peugeot 207 (similar size to the Punto) when it arrives here in March. Shave a couple of grand of the price of the Emotion and Sport and you have a competitive package. The feeling I get is that Ateco are expective most of their sales to be the lower end.

What are the service intervals for the Grande Punto (in NZ)?

I hope Fiat does well in this country, we have been waiting too long. It's tough being a Fiat enthusiast here when there have been no cars to buy.

Troy.
Click to expand...

The GP is not a C segment car, it is in the Super mini class, albeit at the top end and the largest in it class. Like i said, put it in there as price alone it will fail, put everything together it will win easily. go through spec for spec against it's competitors and the GP is well on top.
Servicing is 30,000km or 1 yr, same as Aus, or at least should be from what i hear!
Plenty of Enthusiasts over this side of the pond, grass is soooo much greener here!
 
fiatdownunder said:
The GP is not a C segment car, it is in the Super mini class, albeit at the top end and the largest in it class. Like i said, put it in there as price alone it will fail, put everything together it will win easily. go through spec for spec against it's competitors and the GP is well on top.
Servicing is 30,000km or 1 yr, same as Aus, or at least should be from what i hear!
Plenty of Enthusiasts over this side of the pond, grass is soooo much greener here!
Click to expand...

That's my point, at that price point you see a lot of really good and well equipped C segment cars.

I don't want to sound too negative about Ateco's pricing policies, it's just that I really want to see them succeed over here. Fiats are very thin on the ground these days (they have all rusted away). Looking around it's hard to believe that once upon a time (late 60's early 70's) they used to sell a lot of cars. The 80's (especially late 80's) were forgettable, I don't want to see a repeat of that.

Troy.
 
yeah i see where your coming from but i still stand by the overall package thing.

The GP sport is on a flurry here, my showroom alone has done 5 this week with more appointed for the weekend!
Bit of insider knowlegde, the 500 Jan '08.... ;) shhhhhh
 
fiatdownunder said:
yeah i see where your coming from but i still stand by the overall package thing.

The GP sport is on a flurry here, my showroom alone has done 5 this week with more appointed for the weekend!
Bit of insider knowlegde, the 500 Jan '08.... ;) shhhhhh
Click to expand...

Thanks for that.

Do you know then the Punto TJet is going to be available? :D

Troy.
 
fiatdownunder said:
not sure.... :p :D

prob going to get the Bravo before that!
it's not even a confirmed model yet in europe so wait till then, after that it'll be about 4-5 months after.:bang:
Click to expand...

D'oh. Hurry up already. :bang: The diesel Sport goes really well, but it is difficult to reconcile the tractor sounding motor with it's ultra narrow power band with the sporting body work. I'm so used to the old twin cams ha ha.

Fiat should just whack in a Alfa JTS engine. :D

Troy.
 
Nope, nothing from them about the juddering from first to second gear. Everytime I call to ask if there's a fix for it I get the same answer - No! And the dealer has been ignoring my emails about getting a Dualogic manual. Put simply, I can't be bothered anymore. When the car is due for service I'll get them sorted out. There are far more important things in life than worrying about stupid Italian cars, especially when its under warranty :cool:
 
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