Auto cos' open cafes, lounges to ramp up car sales

Desperate car makers are trying every possible method to jack up their otherwise slumped sales and have now come up with yet another brilliant idea. Here is a good news for explorer of food and cars in India, where carmakers like Fiat, Ford, BMW and Mercedes are trying to lure the customers by opening cafes and lounges in New Delhi and Pune, which hold a great appeal to the customers. The Italian carmakers Fiat are associated with Lavazza café chain, where the Fiat car models are displayed on the lounges.

The cafés are supplied with pasta and other Italian food, the signature food of Lavazza, along with the fragrance of the decaf floating across the piazza, to attract the customers with an authentic Italian culture bonding with the Fiat expressed the Vice president of commercial vehicles of Fiat India, Ravi Bhatia. Apart from the Fiat India, the luxury brand, Mercedes-Benz India has also opened a lounge at the Delhi International Airport, where the model sports car SLS AMG is displayed in their exclusive café.

Mr Debasis Mitra, Director Marketing & Sales of Mercedes India emphasized that they would rather reach out to the customers as Mercedes-Benz is not just about selling cars, but also offering a lifestyle. Mercedes-Benz, all time competitors, BMW have been running the lounge for almost three years now, in New Delhi and the plans to open another lounge in Mumbai this year is in pipe-line. An executive from BMW has expressed that whoever comes to BMW may cherish every moment spent with them in the lounge with their hospitality, not to forget their exclusive cooking classes and art exhibitions to connect with their customers.

The Ford Motors India are not behind in establishing their lounges back in April, this year in the cities new Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore in Malls for boosting the sales of the new editions of Ford Fiesta and will continue in the business till August this year.

Market Experts believe that the cast-down image of Fiat India is mainly due to the perception that the after-sales service of the Fiat is poor, which the Fiat India is bound to change by setting up the cafes to prop-up the sales and the cafes are about to become the face of Fiat to the customers.