DriveBlog

Petra - points to ponder

Just like I did a while ago, there are others who continue to wonder in wide-eyed amazement* at the absence of any mention of the Petra sedan on the Fiat India website. And this is despite a prominent mention of the URL on all of the Petra's advertising. Some of the arguments that come up are pretty interesting, including one that reckons that the Petra is only a stop-gap arrangement for Fiat in India.

Fiat set to up the ante

Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino SpA (phew!) India's key objective during this, their time of consolidation, will be to drive up volumes. And they're hoping that the Petra and the Palio nv will help them on their road to resurrection.

Looking for the Fiat Palio?

In the anticipation of a Palio D test drive sometime in the very near future, some homework was of the order. Running a Google on the phrase 'Fiat Palio Diesel' throws up some pretty interesting results. In keeping with the altruistic nature of this blog, here are some of those finds. =)

Driving mid-sized diesels

It's a very thin line between the two cars in this face-off between the Fiat Petra D and the Hyundai Accent CRDi. While the Petra scores on fuel efficiency and ride quality, the Korean car comes up trumps on refinement and performance.

To Palio D or not to D

That is the question that I posed to a bunch of rather erudite gentlemen and which I now pose to any and all of you who happen to drop by here and have an opinion to offer me on which is the better car to buy - the Fiat Palio 1.9D ELX or the Ford Ikon (1.3) Flair.

Fiat & the World Car

If you have the time and the inclination, check out this case study on the feasibility of rolling out a 'world car'. Starring my long-time love interest, the Fiat Palio.

Skip to Page 15 for some interesting insights on the Indian angle to the Palio story.

Fiat's fighting chance?

Inspite of renewed efforts at marketing, dealer expansion and optimisation of spares prices, Fiat India is determined not to lose out on the big picture. Sometime next month, the Indian arm of the beleaguered auto giant will make a presentation to the head honchos at Turin. The agenda? To press for an as-soon-as-possible launch of the Panda and / or the Idea.

Review Previews

Now here's a review that's a sight for sore eyes - the Palio 1.2 NV ELX.

While you're at it, you could also check out this good ownership report on the Tata Indica V2 Diesel and BS Motoring's take on the Tata Indigo Marina.

Who cares? VCARE!

Fiat India has launched a customer-focused service program called VCARE. You can call 1600-22-21-22 toll free from any landline in the country for access to detailed information on every Fiat model, analyses and recommendations, contact details of the nearest dealership and the like.

There's also a 24-hour breakdown assistance number at 9622-22-21-22 that you can dial from your landline or handphone.

Just by the way

Typepad, like any other good weblogging service, keeps me posted on where I get my visitors from. So it's not surprising when I'm told that most of the hits to this site come from searches made by people on the Googles and Yahoo!s of this world.

What's interesting to observe is what these people are searching for.