Fiat?s best sales year in the US was 2014, when it sold 46,121 vehicles. Since then despite the introduction of the 500X and the admittedly low-volume Alfa Romeo 4C and 4C Spider, the numbers have been declining. FCA North America Passenger Car Brands supremo Tim Kuniskis admits as much, noting to Automotive News of the 500X and 500L, ?We?re not getting any new people in, and all we?re doing is flip-flopping them between these cars.? The solution" A streamlining of option packages to provide differentiation among models, as well as a significant revision to the brand?s dealer strategy, namely, Fiat franchises can now be rolled into other FCA dealerships, a move that FCA says could save a dealer selling 180 Fiats a year $180,000 annually. The 2014 Fiat 500L Custom SEMA Show concept.
Note that the dealership-revision portion of the plan stops short of a mandate. Dealers are free to maintain their standalone Fiat stores, and with the arrival of more product in the form of a mainstream Alfa and the Miata-derived 124 Spider, there may be a case among shops that carry both the Fiat and Alfa Romeo lines for maintaining a distinction. But Kuniskis? plan allows for savings by eliminating dealer costs for a separate corporation, streamlining ordering and advertising payments, as well as eliminating dealer-management services and online-listing service payment redundancies. Of Fiat?s 206 showrooms, 164 have sister Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram dealerships, making the plan of significa...