General 700 million Euro is really enough for the Fiat factory? Will Panda be affected?

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General 700 million Euro is really enough for the Fiat factory? Will Panda be affected?

rogirl

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I saw a news about Fiat spending hundreds of millions to equip its plant - Giambattista Vico. Is this amount of Euros enough? Panda will have less quality? I hope not... i just love it. Am I the only one with these questions?!
 
I believe that, for the amount that it costs, the Panda is extremely well-built by the Polish workers at the Tychy factory.
I feel that moving production to Italy, with its unstable political leaders, mafia and history of communists holding positions of power, will lead to a more expensive car of lesser quality. These issues would only be made worse for us in the UK, buying a car produced within the Eurozone. In addition, I feel that supply of the car might become unreliable.
I fear that problems with supplying the Panda would lead to right-hand drive models, as supplied to the UK, being the first to be cut off.
As you can see, I'm not happy with this change.
 
Can someone answer this message? You really don't care about the Giambattista Vico plant and the future of Panda...

you could give us a chance to post,some of us are sleeping after a night shift, others at work.....

personally, like good dr says, tychy does a sterling job, the basis for fiats success in recent years has been the panda its variants made in poland. wether the italian workers have learnt lessons of the past regarding industrial action and quality remains to be seen, if they go down the BL route, the future is not very bright at all.....
 
Well I won't be buying another, so no, I don't really care all that much.
Sorry to hear that. My MJ has just had its 5th anniversary and has given an average of 58 mpg over that period. It has had 1 X set of front pads, 1 X pair of front wipers, 1 X pair of anti roll bar drop links, 1 X side indicator bulb (orange colour faded, not failed) and normal service items.

In fact, apart from the original pads failing at 23,000 miles I really can't fault the little car. If ever there's been a car that could change a negative opinion of a maker, this is it.
 
I don't really care all that much.

in honesty folks, do any of us really care all that much? We have a lot of people on here really liking their pandas and coming on here to say great theirs is, but despite that i feel that we're quite some distance from being enthusiasts and caring about the brand / model...
 
in honesty folks, do any of us really care all that much? We have a lot of people on here really liking their pandas and coming on here to say great theirs is, but despite that i feel that we're quite some distance from being enthusiasts and caring about the brand / model...
Au contraire, mon ami. er.....actually that's French isn't it? Never mind. I do care about the brand, because I care about the country. We shall be in Italy in June and just the other side of it in the South of France in August, and we'll pop over to Asti or Genoa while we're there.

My Mother is of Italian extraction, I love the country, even its lack of organisation. I love the way the Polizia Stradale and Carabinieri motor bike Cops dress not to offer themselves protection, but purely for style. Knee length highly polished riding boots (horse not motorcycle boots that is)? Check. Blue jodphurs with the red stripe up the side (useless in a crash)? Check. Short sleeve shirt (also useless in a crash) ? Check. Short kangaroo skin gloves (equally useless in a crash)? Check. Ray Ban aviator sunglasss (useful for looking cool)? Check. Open face crash helmet(fairly useful in a crash)? Check. Designer stubble (essential for impressing the ladies)? Check. White patent leather Sam Browne and holster (Prada)? Check.

Whenever I go to Italy, the first night there I feel like I'm home. The Alfas, Autobianchis, Ferraris, FIATs, Innocentis, Lamborghinis, Lancias, Maseratis, Aprilias, Ducatis, Moto Guzzis are all part of the make up of the country.

We've just replaced Mrs. Beard's ex-Stilo with an Alfa 156. I looked at BMWs, Audis and quite a few others. They were all so dull and tedious there was only one choice.

Italy is a land where you can see a young lad on a scooter being pulled along by a Punto driven by a girl he's trying to chat up as he holds onto the door frame. In this country he's a loutish hoody. Girls there won't have anything to do with a drunk lad. Here they get themselves locked up for trying to get him out of being arrested.

To me, FIAT is part of a country I love, and if I'd got off my arse years ago when I learnt a little Italian, I'd be living there now.

FORZA ITALIA! FORZA FIAT!
 
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in honesty folks, do any of us really care all that much? We have a lot of people on here really liking their pandas and coming on here to say great theirs is, but despite that i feel that we're quite some distance from being enthusiasts and caring about the brand / model...

Don't get me wrong, I really do like the 100hp. I've always been a big petrolhead, but I bought the 100hp because it's a good fun car and great valye for the money, not because it's a Fiat.

My next car is likely to be a Clio RS, again, not because I feel I can only buy Renault cars, but because it's a great hot hatch.

I really do find it odd when people get all SMF (single make forum) and feel they have to be loyal to a given manufacturer. I experience this loads on IMOC UK which is an MR2 club I've run for years. It's like if you don't buy a toyota or something jap then you are to an extent ripe for criticism. At the end of the day there are some really great cars out there so why tie yourself to one manufacturer?
 
Au contraire, mon ami. er.....actually that's French isn't it? Never mind. I do care about the brand, because I care about the country. We shall be in Italy in June [...] FIAT is part of a country I love, and if I'd got off my arse years ago when I learnt a little Italian, I'd be living there now.

FORZA ITALIA! FORZA FIAT!

ok fair enough! i enjoyed your post, its nice to get an insight into peoples passions, reading stuff like that can transport you somewhere else entirely (cheaper than a holiday :) )

i'm happy to accept that a handful of people feel that passion due to a cultural enthusiasm and that another handful feel some passion due to absolutely loving their panda, but i still think the majority are merely just very satisfied users rather than passionate enthusiasts... perhaps my post should have said in honesty folks, do most of us really care all that much?
 
Senz'altro The Beard - we must get together.

I became interested in Italy and things Italian way back in 1958 when Mike Hawthorn won the world championship in a Ferrari. A few years later I'd also become very interested in design and engineering and the fact that Fiats showed the signs of an individual designer's influence - Dante Giacosa and Aurelio Lampredi - added to my liking for them. The Mini was another example of this but I was hooked on Italian cars by then as the Mini was an exception at a time when British cars - remember them? - were concocted by committees of accountants who let engineers out of their cage as an afterthought after the car had been designed.

There are still some real duds around, and even more dullards, but among the better manufacturers the notion that one make of car is intrinsically better than another at a given sector of the market is not really relevant any more, it's a question of what appeals for a few objective reasons and a whole range of subjective ones. I would not buy a non-European car or a French car - nothing to do with logic - how could anyone logically reject anything from France, the home of logic? I've had well over twenty Fiats plus several Alfas and Lancias, (though I might well have bought a 100HP VW Lupo 18 months ago if they'd still been making them).

Enjoyed time in Italy, learned the language, bought a house there back in the 1980s, when I worked for other people and had some money, spend at least three months of the year there (off in 10 days' time) and will be more in future, love the place, and love the Italians more - at least as much at home there now as I am in England.
 
Don't get me wrong, I really do like the 100hp. I've always been a big petrolhead, but I bought the 100hp because it's a good fun car and great valye for the money, not because it's a Fiat.

My next car is likely to be a Clio RS, again, not because I feel I can only buy Renault cars, but because it's a great hot hatch.

I really do find it odd when people get all SMF (single make forum) and feel they have to be loyal to a given manufacturer. I experience this loads on IMOC UK which is an MR2 club I've run for years. It's like if you don't buy a toyota or something jap then you are to an extent ripe for criticism. At the end of the day there are some really great cars out there so why tie yourself to one manufacturer?

I tend to agree with this...I selected the Panda as it suits my needs at the moment and seems to do the job I want it to, after having researched and read reviews (of course the staff discount swung it in the end)...I don't understand brand loyalty, would never buy something based on the badge and I don't think it is exactly a two way street :D
 
I like to think that logical thinking dictates my choice of car but it does not.
My first Nuovo Panda was a 1.2 4x4 Climbing. I bought this because I fell in love with the original Panda 4x4 but was not in a position to buy one when they were available new. To be honest, nothing could have stopped me buying my Panda 4x4 but, fortunately, I enjoyed it immensely and became a great enthusiast for all Pandas. However, I don't do brand loyalty and it would take a lot to persuade me to buy some other Fiat models, an Alfa Romeo or even, God forbid, a Lancia!

(Footnote, advice from the Italian speakers please. Is it Nuova Panda, on the basis that it is una macchina, hence feminine, or Nuovo Panda after the animal, masculine?)
 
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(Footnote, advice from the Italian speakers please. Is it Nuova Panda, on the basis that it is una macchina, hence feminine, or Nuovo Panda after the animal, masculine?)

All cars are feminine - the Uno - uno being the masculine form for one - is still la Uno, and a Stilo - stilo being a masculine noun meaning stylus - is una Stilo.
 
then again... a manufacturer wouldn't garner much brand loyalty if ALL their products were truly awful...

I like the idea of an alfa, they do make beautiful cars, the mito looks a fab package...but I would have to be satisfied that it was a sound reliably built product before parting with the cash...

If the op is right, I think the panda will lose something if it isn't built in tychy any longer...
 
Don't get me wrong, I really do like the 100hp. I've always been a big petrolhead, but I bought the 100hp because it's a good fun car and great valye for the money, not because it's a Fiat.

My next car is likely to be a Clio RS, again, not because I feel I can only buy Renault cars, but because it's a great hot hatch.

I really do find it odd when people get all SMF (single make forum) and feel they have to be loyal to a given manufacturer. I experience this loads on IMOC UK which is an MR2 club I've run for years. It's like if you don't buy a toyota or something jap then you are to an extent ripe for criticism. At the end of the day there are some really great cars out there so why tie yourself to one manufacturer?

I've got to agree with Lauren [with obvious pain!] on this one. I wanted a new small car that was interesting/different to own and fun to drive - it could have been manufactured by anyone [within reason]. The reviews convinced me into making the purchase.

If SMF are known for their bias, how about single model forums?! :eek:

I was part of the admin team for Honda Revolutions which grew from our little Smartgroups [remember those] board into a large club with hundreds of subscribing members. I owned an ITR, S2000 and then Westfield Megablade - so I was/am passionate about Honda. But that still didn't make me want a Jazz [as competent as they are].

However, the more I learn about my Panda and Fiat as a brand [from you guys who are passionate], the more interested I become (y)
 
What current models of Fiats are now built in plants based in Italy? I was just thinking that if that particular model is ok then that shows the Italians can build the Panda just fine. I should hope the Panda will be built with the same standards and with the same machines so it shouldnt suffer really...hopefully.

I have never had a loyalty to just one brand either. I have had another Fiat (classic Panda) but also Fords, Suzuki and a Renault. I might fancy a new 100hp in a couple of years if its still being made then. However I also like the Abarth 500 and the new Citroen DS3.
 
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