Article : future of FIAT in Europe

[varesecrazy]

Saw this..

Lengthy ..and global..

But some interesting prospects.

https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/...eed&utm_medium=rss-feed&utm_campaign=rss-feed

 

[PuntoHowTo]

An interesting read which highlights FCA’s willingness to completely bin otherwise profitable lines for no apparent reason sometimes.

It’s hard to believe that they sell more Lancia Ypsillons in Italy every year than they sell all Alfa Romeo models, yet they still let the Lancia brand die, while there are still petrol heads who would give anything to see Lancia come back, and let’s be honest fiat now lack a lot of motor sport pedigree Lancia could bring some of that back.

My biggest bug bear is them letting the punto die, not that long about it was their biggest seller and probably saved them from bankruptcy in the 90s and early 2000s yet they have an attitude of if something is selling well they forsake everything else, there is no reason they can’t have a hugely popular 500 and a popular Punto, the problem is they are killing the punto and not really doing much with the 500. 500 owners are not going to keep coming back to fiat and buying the same car over and over, so without an alternative they will move on and fiat will lose their loyalty.

Some people who own a 500 have kids and want a bigger car, but still want a small car, the 500L completely missed its mark and the 500x maybe too big and expensive for some, in which case there really isn’t an alternative currently.

Other firms make it work, Ford have the Ka, fiesta and Focus, which are essentially the same car scaled up slightly

VW have the Up! The polo and the golf.

Citroen have the C1 the C3 and their DS range.

Even BMW are in on the act with the 1 series 2 series and 3 series, making small to family sized cars.

Mini has an entire range built on the small family car ethos.

Fiat are not the only small car maker and they are not going to be able to ride the coat tails of the 500 forever. They need to be doing something, yes Jeep is Doing well in the USA but it doesn’t mean there isn’t money to be made elsewhere.

 

[chris3234]

I'd agree they need a good family hatchback something like stretched 500 with 5 doors a something obviously the Punto filled
If they do a redesign of the car a few years go it would likely still be popular

 

[Ralf S.]

FCA's (or rather Sergio's) main focus seems to have been to eliminate its debt and make all its operations profitable, no doubt connected to Sergio's retirement bonus... so in that respect the contraction of the brands has been spectacularly successful.

The next guy in charge will be key, though. If they are an accountant, like Sergio, then I'd be very afraid... because they will cherry-pick the sectors they want to invest in... and once you've got all your eggs in one or two baskets (e.g. the 500, Alfa "revival" etc.) then as soon as you make a wrong decision, conditions change or something just doesn't work, then you're in a crisis... but this time without the Fiat "get out of jail" option which was the 127, the Uno and the Punto twice. in the past.

On the other hand, if the next guy is a "car" guy then he might think a bit more out of the box. The core "money spinners" can be kept spinning for sure.. but FCA also needs to have a contender in the highest volume segments.

IMO, Fiat always should have a Punto. Even if the profit from it is practically nil, it should be the car people think of when you say "Fiat", in the same way that a VW is a Golf and a Ford is a Focus (or Cortina, depending on your age).

Punto (if done properly) can feed a few different models... Tweak the motor and add better suspension and you have a new MiTo.. Fit a nicer interior with the better suspension and you have a Lancia (and go rallying with it).

Lancia can be more niche (Punto/124 between them might be able to provide most of the bits for a new Fulvia) but it's also the ideal candidate to fill the space above Fiat (Punto). Using the Alfa platforms for economies of scale, you could create a Delta (viz. Giulietta), and a saloon (Giulia) or SuV (Stelvio) to offer a different style/options the same way as VAG brands do and Merc' does with its own model sub-variants.

It doesn't strike me as rocket science...so I just think the bosses don't have the vision to see it. I'm available to be CEO, if anyone from FCA is interested..


Ralf S.

 

[puntofan01]

It's a shame that Geely can't take over FCA: Fiat would get the investment they desperately need, whilst still having their creative freedom.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

It's a shame that Geely can't take over FCA: Fiat would get the investment they desperately need, whilst still having their creative freedom.

It’s probably too expensive for them and would overlap too much with their Chinese car businesses.

They own Volvo and lotus as well as the London taxi company, but these have very different markets from their own cars and fiat.