General Your new job

[306maxi]

I realise these sort of threads never go well because no one sticks to the "rules" but I thought I'd try it.

Here's the challenge, Fiat have realised that they've ****ed up with the 500 and the Abarth and the product lineup is all wrong. You get the job as Fiat's product manager in charge of the 500 lineup.

You can do whatever you want in terms of adding or removing options, spec levels, standard equipment etc etc.

BUT it's got to be done to appeal to the masses and you've got to keep costs under control and adding something like HID's as standard is only going to hurt profits. Adding a particular shade of pinkey orange because you like it is not on either. You get my drift......

You also need to spec up a 500 classic model which will be the flagship model which people will see and want straight away.

As supreme overlord of the 500 I would do the following

1. Get rid of the separate Abarth brand in terms of sales and servicing. In fact get rid of the Abarth name for that model. Call it a 500 t-jet or enrico farfallo chicken breast ragazzzzzzzzone to appeal to dingleberries who like meaningless Italianisms.
2. Launch an Abarth which is basically the 695 tributo minus anything superfluous like the Sabelts and carbon fibre dash and the flappy paddle box which does nothing but adds cost and meaningless flash. The Abarth should be a flagship model for the range and be something that commands respect in petrolhead circles. The current Abarth is just a slightly faster 500 in a slightly more butch frock. The Abarth bodykit should include wider arches. It should also include decent suspension like Koni FSD's or Bilstein coilovers. It should be a car that really makes the Abarth badge mean something
3. Have a 500 Abarth cup model which doesn't have air con or any of the bits on the Abarth which are just not needed. Heck, get rid of the radio, tisn't needed. Think Abarth-lite, think lower cost, think sales, think good handling......
4. Increase the availability of options. Why are the 16" wheels from the 500c not available on the hatchback from the factory? Dumb. Really dumb. Allow people to put Abarth wheels (with 500 centres)
5. Get rid of the Gucci model, buy back all Gucci's sold, pretend it never happened and sue the pants off any website still embarassing Fiat by showing it ever existed.
6. Have a tuning pack (similar to the esseesseeeessseseseseseese pack) which comes with an air filter, different wheels, some different brake pads and so on. Those Essesse packs must make Fiat an absolute packet. Money for slightly upgraded and very expensive old rope.
7. Have a nice blue. Something a little like New Orleans Blue but perhaps a little lighter and perhaps with a bit of mica through it. In fact inject some colour into the 500 palette and offer another 1 or 2 free colours which are eyecatching like Tropicallia Yellow and Pasadoble Red. BNW is nice, but having 99% of the cars in BNW isn't necesarily a good thing. Just basically steal all the good colours other manufacturers have.
8. Improve the suspension some more, give it some more travel at the back and just get it that bit better. The 2010 suspension was nice, but it could be better and still has the problem with the bumpstops which will annoy the enthusiastic driver. Old farts will like a more comfy car too
9. Cancel the supply contract with Leerdammer or Jarlsberg or whoever makes the suspension components for the 500.
10. Look at customer complaints about the car and common failures like breather pipes and so on and rectify them, the 500 isn't an unreliable car, but having to be into the stealers for silly little things like that does no one any good.
11. Offer a winter tyre package as an option with pop wheel trims. Ship the tyres out to the customer in early October, make a nice wodge of cash from it.
12. Get rid of the silly twinair spec. Walk into a dealer and say "I want a twinair", yes sir will that be the twinair spec which only comes with the twinair engine or do you want a lounge or pop with the twinair engine? "The twinair spec please", twinair plus or just twinair? "What's the differen.... oh **** it I'm getting a Micra"

My flagship model. It would be available only in 4 colours. Despite being called the "500 classic" it will not be overly retro.

Colours - Only a few so you don't dilute the spec level by having colours which will turn people off.
BNW or perhaps even a proper white white.
Black
Pasadoble red
Blue - as above

Car will have the following
Chrome pack
Side rubbing strips with some sort of 500 classic badging
16" multispokes with a proper tyre which has been tested for the 500 like the Michelin PE2 was for the Rennosport Clio.
Climate control
Leather seats - Back or red for the white cars, black or red for the black cars, black or red for red cars and black for blue cars.
Climate control
B&M
Leather wheel
Heated seats
Rear spoiler
Glass roof
Italian flag badge on wings
Foglights
Sport sill plates
Body coloured mirrors with the option for contrasting colours for the mirrors.

Price it lower than what a lounge would be if you added all of this stuff on.

It should also be available with any engine in the range from the 1.2 up to the 180bhp engine from the Abarth.

Now to email Sergio

 

[RobW]

stop wasting time and get your application in then
or approach Andrew directly

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-j-humberstone/5/985/9aa

 

[306maxi]

stop wasting time and get your application in then
or approach Andrew directly

http://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-j-humberstone/5/985/9aa

I don't really want a job in corporate wankagement really. I prefer fixing broken PC's.

 

[RobW]

I don't really want a job in corporate wankagement really. I prefer fixing broken PC's.

i don't believe you, i think you could be a real life David Brent

 

[poggy]

Apart from item 10, it's all focussed on the smaller end of the target audience. You would be better offer make it more affordable with a enhanced warranty to appeal to the masses and this type of car is all about selling the numbers.

 

[306maxi]

Apart from item 10, it's all focussed on the smaller end of the target audience. You would be better offer make it more affordable with a enhanced warranty to appeal to the masses and this type of car is all about selling the numbers.

1. The separate Abarth thing just hasn't worked
2. I don't see how this is geared at a smaller market, it's an addition and an improvement to the range, plus it's a proper pukka halo car.
3. A number of people on here have said the same thing. The Clio cup was very popular for Renno.
4. Don't see how this is appealing to a smaller audience. Gives people a greater ability to give me money.
5. It's an embarassment. It's like an inverse halo model. Could call it a devil horns model.
6. Cha CHING! The Essesse pack is going gangbusters with the Abarth model, I would be surprised if this didn't make a lot of money
7. Too much BNW is hurting the model.
8. People still complain sometimes about the suspension, make it better and you take it from a car which is criticised for its suspension to a car which is praised for it. Opens up new markets.
9. You're right, we should get the company who makes the suspension parts to put the engines together, that'll work well.
10. Ok at least you agree with this.
11. Huge ability to make money. Easy way to get people to spend £500 on their car at the point of purchase.
12. I'm sorry, but confusion is bad for the customer.

As for Rob, go swivel

 

[grimwau]

I see you listed climate control twice, personally I would prefer a proper dual zone system.

What about a proper red?

 

[TwinAir Newbie]

I realise these sort of threads never go well because no one sticks to the "rules" but I thought I'd try it.

Here's the challenge, Fiat have realised that they've ****ed up with the 500 and the Abarth and the product lineup is all wrong. You get the job as Fiat's product manager in charge of the 500 lineup.

You can do whatever you want in terms of adding or removing options, spec levels, standard equipment etc etc.

BUT it's got to be done to appeal to the masses and you've got to keep costs under control and adding something like HID's as standard is only going to hurt profits. Adding a particular shade of pinkey orange because you like it is not on either. You get my drift......

You also need to spec up a 500 classic model which will be the flagship model which people will see and want straight away.

As supreme overlord of the 500 I would do the following

1. Get rid of the separate Abarth brand in terms of sales and servicing. In fact get rid of the Abarth name for that model. Call it a 500 t-jet or enrico farfallo chicken breast ragazzzzzzzzone to appeal to dingleberries who like meaningless Italianisms.
2. Launch an Abarth which is basically the 695 tributo minus anything superfluous like the Sabelts and carbon fibre dash and the flappy paddle box which does nothing but adds cost and meaningless flash. The Abarth should be a flagship model for the range and be something that commands respect in petrolhead circles. The current Abarth is just a slightly faster 500 in a slightly more butch frock. The Abarth bodykit should include wider arches. It should also include decent suspension like Koni FSD's or Bilstein coilovers. It should be a car that really makes the Abarth badge mean something
3. Have a 500 Abarth cup model which doesn't have air con or any of the bits on the Abarth which are just not needed. Heck, get rid of the radio, tisn't needed. Think Abarth-lite, think lower cost, think sales, think good handling......
4. Increase the availability of options. Why are the 16" wheels from the 500c not available on the hatchback from the factory? Dumb. Really dumb. Allow people to put Abarth wheels (with 500 centres)
5. Get rid of the Gucci model, buy back all Gucci's sold, pretend it never happened and sue the pants off any website still embarassing Fiat by showing it ever existed.
6. Have a tuning pack (similar to the esseesseeeessseseseseseese pack) which comes with an air filter, different wheels, some different brake pads and so on. Those Essesse packs must make Fiat an absolute packet. Money for slightly upgraded and very expensive old rope.
7. Have a nice blue. Something a little like New Orleans Blue but perhaps a little lighter and perhaps with a bit of mica through it. In fact inject some colour into the 500 palette and offer another 1 or 2 free colours which are eyecatching like Tropicallia Yellow and Pasadoble Red. BNW is nice, but having 99% of the cars in BNW isn't necesarily a good thing. Just basically steal all the good colours other manufacturers have.
8. Improve the suspension some more, give it some more travel at the back and just get it that bit better. The 2010 suspension was nice, but it could be better and still has the problem with the bumpstops which will annoy the enthusiastic driver. Old farts will like a more comfy car too
9. Cancel the supply contract with Leerdammer or Jarlsberg or whoever makes the suspension components for the 500.
10. Look at customer complaints about the car and common failures like breather pipes and so on and rectify them, the 500 isn't an unreliable car, but having to be into the stealers for silly little things like that does no one any good.
11. Offer a winter tyre package as an option with pop wheel trims. Ship the tyres out to the customer in early October, make a nice wodge of cash from it.
12. Get rid of the silly twinair spec. Walk into a dealer and say "I want a twinair", yes sir will that be the twinair spec which only comes with the twinair engine or do you want a lounge or pop with the twinair engine? "The twinair spec please", twinair plus or just twinair? "What's the differen.... oh **** it I'm getting a Micra"

My flagship model. It would be available only in 4 colours. Despite being called the "500 classic" it will not be overly retro.

Colours - Only a few so you don't dilute the spec level by having colours which will turn people off.
BNW or perhaps even a proper white white.
Black
Pasadoble red
Blue - as above

Car will have the following
Chrome pack
Side rubbing strips with some sort of 500 classic badging
16" multispokes with a proper tyre which has been tested for the 500 like the Michelin PE2 was for the Rennosport Clio.
Climate control
Leather seats - Back or red for the white cars, black or red for the black cars, black or red for red cars and black for blue cars.
Climate control
B&M
Leather wheel
Heated seats
Rear spoiler
Glass roof
Italian flag badge on wings
Foglights
Sport sill plates
Body coloured mirrors with the option for contrasting colours for the mirrors.

Price it lower than what a lounge would be if you added all of this stuff on.

It should also be available with any engine in the range from the 1.2 up to the 180bhp engine from the Abarth.

Now to email Sergio

 

[306maxi]

I see you listed climate control twice, personally I would prefer a proper dual zone system.

What about a proper red?

Oops I thought I'd put it in, but wasn't sure so put it in again Is the 500 big enough to have more than 2 zones for the CC?

My nomination for the "proper" red

 

[poggy]

Wasn't trying to wind you up, but the big sales (and margin contribution) are the standard cars to be honest. The Abarth is about a marketing opportunity not sales really.

I realise a number of people on here would like something special and I am not saying your wrong about the rest of your comments, but it's better and easier to build on a market opportunity for 10,000 opportunities, than get 100% of the share of a market for 1,000 cars for example. Most people can't even tell the difference between suspension etc and the specials won't be specials if you sell lot's of them. The people on here are enthusiasts not standard customers, otherwise the site would have several million members in the UK alone.

Winter tyres can be done by local tyre companies, so there is no added value from Fiat doing it as a nationwide thing (especially as take up is low), local dealers could do it and that is what happens in many European countries. They store them and put them on in winter, but they last 2-3 years, so not a huge repeat business for Fiat and at the cut throat end of the parts chain so not a huge amount of money at all.

Tuning packs etc are all low volume, car makers need volume or it becomes a distraction.

In my opinion you focus on the core product and increase your share of a large potential market.

 

[RobW]

With the previous Cinquecento, the one that was launched in 1993, yes the one that Fiat marketing seem to have forgotten about…

There was a very simple product lineup:

Base or S with 899cc ohv engine
SX gained better trim and body coloured bumpers
Soleil edition based on SX with full length electric roof
Sporting with 1108cc FIRE engine and sporty accessories, Abarth styling bodykit and accessories pack

Which were all fundamentally unchanged until the Seicento was launched in 1998/1999

No complicated customisations when ordering, the car was ‘right’ and very popular

In the case of the Sporting demand always outstripped supply

 

[306maxi]

Wasn't trying to wind you up, but the big sales (and margin contribution) are the standard cars to be honest. The Abarth is about a marketing opportunity not sales really.

I realise a number of people on here would like something special and I am not saying your wrong about the rest of your comments, but it's better and easier to build on a market opportunity for 10,000 opportunities, than get 100% of the share of a market for 1,000 cars for example. Most people can't even tell the difference between suspension etc and the specials won't be specials if you sell lot's of them.

Winter tyres can be done by local tyre companies, so there is no added value from Fiat doing it as a nationwide thing (especially as take up is low), local dealers could do it and that is what happens in many European countries. They store them and put them on in winter, but they last 2-3 years, so not a huge repeat business for Fiat and at the cut throat end of the parts chain so not a huge amount of money at all.

Tuning packs etc are all low volume, car makers need volume or it becomes a distraction.

In my opinion you focus on the core product and increase your share of a large potential market.

I get what you're saying

Thing is the 500 is already quite a popular car. But the sales are starting to slide now because other than the twinair engine, there's been nothing really added since the twinair engine and I think Fiat were riding on a wave of Apple like magic for the first couple of years. The 500 is very overpriced for what it is and the market is beginning to say no.

I think some things like making the suspension better are nobrainers Like I said, old people prefer something comfy, and if you make the car handle better it doesn't hurt. Of course for a lot of people, just the mere fact that it has suspension is enough.

As for winter tyres, the fact that only one out of the people on here who is getting winter tyres this year did it the way I did it (buying their own wheels, getting tyres and going to a tyre place for fitting and balancing) says that 500 owners value convenience. A casual look around at some of the 2nd cars that people drive will tell you that 500 owners tend to have a bit of disposable income. I don't see the one of purchase issue either, might as well not include tyres with the car because they're never going to come back to you to I jest of course. But the one off things like paint protection are the things which earn the stealers their money on the purchase of a car.

 

[ahmett]

I would make the electornic display more variable and visible like the mini, you know showing instant speed etc etc. Also I cant even read mine as I sit far back in the car and cannot read all of the display when siting in the driving position I have to sit up and stare at it which, well isnt really safe!

 

[306maxi]

With the previous Cinquecento, the one that was launched in 1993, yes the one that Fiat marketing seem to have forgotten about…

There was a very simple product lineup:

Base or S with 899cc ohv engine
SX gained better trim and body coloured bumpers
Soleil edition based on SX with full length electric roof
Sporting with 1108cc FIRE engine and sporty accessories, Abarth styling bodykit and accessories pack

Which were all fundamentally unchanged until the Seicento was launched in 1998/1999

No complicated customisations when ordering, the car was ‘right’ and very popular

In the case of the Sporting demand always outstripped supply

How would you change the model lineup of the 500? I can't see people buying a black bumpered one sadly, but it'd be interesting to see what other people think should be changed

 

[arorat]

Excellent post Maxi
I would buy your flagship model (first post) and can I have it in Ferrari Red, dash in leather with white stiching, also may I have an armrest too ?

 

[Lloyd71]

I would make the electornic display more variable and visible like the mini, you know showing instant speed etc etc. Also I cant even read mine as I sit far back in the car and cannot read all of the display when siting in the driving position I have to sit up and stare at it which, well isnt really safe!

If you're sitting that far down in your seat the chances are you haven't got a safe view of the road ahead either. It's not like the speedo is angled upwards or anything, it's right there in front of you!

 

[TrevC]

How about replacing the 1.4 (which seems to be being phased out anyway) with the 1.4 Multiair used in other FIATs and in the US? The bigger US tank would be good too.
The Multiair should be tuneable to give more power (say 115bhp) and better economy than the old 1.4, and produce a warm hatch noticably quicker than the TA. The A500 could be mildly tweaked to keep that truly hot.

 

[RobinPJ]

I'm afraid I have got a short attention span today so I may have skim read Maxi's opener a bit too fast, but if I had to answer the question "What should Fiat do to increase sales of 500s?" then I would say that far and away the most important thing would be to instill confidence in the quality of the product and the buying experience.

I say that because if you asked people why they bought a competitor over a 500, I suspect for most it is not about spec or colour choices or stuff, but about a fear that a Fiat is more likely to let them down than a Ford or a Toyota. (The other reasons might be (i) cost or (ii) that it is allegedly a girly car - but there is not much more that can be done about that, given that we now have matt black cars and cars with black wheels. Short of painting purple veins down the side what more can be done to make a 500 macho?)

Giving confidence in the fact that an Italian car will not break down or rust away is tricky and reputations are a lot easier to come by than to get rid of, but sorting out problems quickly and without causing a fight will be the best thing they could do.

So that means that the best quick fix is to stop cocking about with warranty claims and the third year dealer (in reality insurance policy) warranty nonsense, and offer a "no quibble" proper 3 year manufacturer warranty. Even better would be to offer a 5 year warranty, but I accept that that would probably be a bit expensive. But it would grab attention in the market, and indicate real confidence in the product.

 

[bgunn]

More likely to break down than a Ford, heh, that's a joke right? I presume you're talking about opinion rather than fact here

Oh, and the Far Eastern style warranty is rubbish really, they make the cars so cheaply, then can afford to buy a long warranty for the customer - it's not because the car is made any better.

 

[TheCurleyOne]

My nomination for the "proper" red

Mmm lovely red, quite "cranberry juice".
It's all about the red for me; so I've been holding out for Ragamuffin (as it costs extra) and wonder if you've ever seen R-Red in real life yourself? ...and also with the sun on it?