Abstract

The case explores reasons for the poor performance of the Italian automobile company Fiat in India. It examines in detail the company's efforts to make its Uno and Siena cars a success. The case also takes a look at the changes made by the company for ensuring the success of its new car, the Palio, launched in September 2001. The case is so structured as to enable students to understand how certain mistakes on the marketing, product development and the strategic alliance fronts resulted in Fiat's poor performance over the years in the Indian car market. The students should also understand the rationale behind the measures taken by the company for ensuring the success of the Palio.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Entry of automobile multinationals into India, product failures, problems in JVs.

Keywords

Poor performance, Italian automobile, Fiat, India, Uno, Siena, Palio, September 2001, marketing, product development, strategic alliance, Indian car market, Business Strategy