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Fiat Group Strategies PDF

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Fiat Group Strategies PDF

Hmm..............streamlining the number of dealers and increasing the number of cars each remaining dealership deals with by the sounds of it..................
 
the only way they are gonna get more cars sold is launch more cars like the grande punto, but more importantly get the dealers and salesman changed as their attitude stinks!!

e.g. I was in my local (not my keswick fiat they are total cheese, I mean sunderland) fiat dealer looking at new punto, I had a damn good look thru it even crawled under it to look at how primitive the suspension was, I then asked a perfectly valid question (this was at launch party) "How much are parts going to be, e.g how much is it going to cost for a front pipe for the exhaust?"
He didn't even respond, he just walked away!!! THis is the ONLY reason I WOULD NOT BUY A NEW CAR FROM A FIAT DEALER**



**although I might buy a new car from jamjar or csmacarshop etc, as they are cheaper AND I don't have to deal with the aholes.
 
oldracer said:
how many people know ? now how a frt pipe is on a grande punto. if u do how sad r u
Click to expand...

I wouldn't have expected the saleman to say 'oh, it's going to be £XX.XX' - I think it was the total lack of response from the salesman that was being criticised here.
 
would you know what temp a 747 engine runs at.... lets get real . a salesman is a salesman,.... ?have u test drove a grande punto...................what a fantastic car ..nothing but ++++ for it
 
oldracer said:
would you know what temp a 747 engine runs at.... lets get real . a salesman is a salesman,.... ?have u test drove a grande punto...................what a fantastic car ..nothing but ++++ for it
Click to expand...

Pardon?

Of course, you couldn't expect a salesman to know parts prices. But, he could have said 'Sorry, I don't know, but we can find out for you'. It was the attitude of the salesman that was questioned here. One of the things you look for when deciding on what make/model to go and and look for is how expensive replacement parts are (at least I do anyway)
 
Think Chaos has it... its the being ignored bit that is the issue here. F4T has a point or 2 as well... if your gonna buy a 7-12K car (most new ones worth having are these days) and be stuck with it for 4-5 years, replacement parts/servicing costs are of interest because you will get lumbered with these too! Point 2 is how many folks have ignorant/dis-interested salesmen failed to sell to... if you are ignored or feel that they are not interested you tend to vote with your feet and go elsewhere.

Bottom line is get desireable product (Grand Punto/Panda/Croma), enthusiastic and properly trained staff which in turn will boost confidence in and demand for the product and hopefully better the reputation and residual value of all FIATs.

Confidence and trust can take years establish but minutes to loose... Say you have been a satisfied customer of a dealer for years, go in your lunch hour to look at a new model and then get a trainee salesman who brushes you off as a tyre kicker because he is 5 minutes late for his lunch... you decide stuff that and take your business elsewhere. The dealer you have been loyal to loses the sale of the new car and potentially all of your servicing work/parts &accessory purchases. Ouch! Loke the poster at work used to say 'LOOK AFTER YOUR CUSTOMERS... BEFORE SOMEONE ELSE DOES' (n)
 
Yes, it's the attitude towards the customer that makes all the difference, and that a fact that needs to be addressed before and after purchase no matter what you look like.
Because of the way I look a lot of salesmen just ignore me and this will cost them a sale so it's their loss not mine because I have the power to go elsewhere. If I don't like the attitude I am presented with I will tell them something like, " OK I have 25K in cash to spend on a car"
They soon change their mind about me, but by then it's too late, I'll still walk away. All I want is a bit of respect and what faster4_tec said is typical of a lot of Fiat dealers, not all of them though.

I had the same problem at Citroen, the salesman had the most "can't be arsed attitude I have ever come across.

Ford were good, as were Fiat in salisbury. VW were outstanding and while I was there 3 of the salesmen were having a good nose around my car, they even said that if I part ex'd it they would put it in their prestige section and sell it with the Mercs and Jags that had been taken it :D
 
A friend of mine had for over 30 years a Skoda dealership. He started at a time when Skodas were by comunist order not permitted to be cars. He succeeded because he was interested in his clients. He knew every clients name. Because of this he earned a lot of money and not because he wanted to make quick sales.

Whenever Skoda wanted him to make any changes even till fairly recently he did not comply when it didn't suit him. Whenever they tried to threaten him with withdrawing the dealer status he replied that it is not what Skoda sells to him keeps him going and which of the competitors they would hate most to see in his show room.

What this guy knows we do too. Let us just go back to these muppet type of salesmen and tell them that we can get cars from other places too and that there are several tenthousand of people on the forums like to know where not to go.
 
Well Oldschool, Skoda was the brand I was thinking of... post VW takeover the reputation was turned round in 2-3 years and the highest placed european manufacturer for umpteen years in the JD powers survey was richly deserved.

Whilst my dad with his VW Bora (1.8 CL L plate 13K (?) at the time - New Car) engaged in protracted arguments over whom paid for what under the warranty items he claimed for, I on the other hand used to hand the keys to my Skoda (1.3 LXi Plus L plate 4.5K 27 mile registered unused demo) over, dealer fixed the issues under warranty and handed the keys back, with a smile but no invoice!

Think Fiat would benefit from losing the 'No is the answer, now what did you say your warranty question/query/complaint is?' stance. After 10 years of Skoda ownership this is very alien to me! The 3rd year of the Fiat warranty does seem to be worthless...
 
wotnowarninglight said:
The 3rd year of the Fiat warranty does seem to be worthless...
Click to expand...
If that's the case then I may be getting rid of my car sooner rather than later TBH. As much as I love my car, I don't want the extra problem of bad dealers and problems getting work done, that's the main reason I buy new cars now.
 
Well Koarang, P/Xing your car every 2 years is great, if you can afford it... me, im now 5 months into a 2 year extended autocare warranty that the previous owner bought and didnt use but was kind enough to sign it over to me though.

Anti rollbar links were not covered under autocare as they are a wear and tear item... does make me wonder if its worth the £400 odd the last owner paid for it!

Will run it until the warranty runs out, possibly use independent FIAT specialists to keep servicing costs down and do some of the jobs myself (pollen filter, brake pads etc.)
 
It makes it more tempting to bail out because of the selespeed box. Not sure how much of that is covered by the 3rd year warranty but if for some reason it does go in the 3rd year there's no way I'm forking out big money when it'd be more cost effective to part exchange.
I just hope Fiat gets it all sorted before I do so, so I can buy another one, or an Alfa. If not I'll go somewhere else and that's sad :(
 
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