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Old 03-13-2014, 08:08 PM   #1
adastra
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Default Anyone have a Fiat studio, Fiats in Inventory? Seems they are dumping them.

I guess they oversupplied since they are advertising selling leftover 2013s for $6000-7000 off.

So new Abarths can be had in the $16000s... about what 2012s are showing on MMR.

In Europe these enjoy very good resale values and a good brand image. Dumping them like this seems like a bad move. Reminds me of the PT cruiser launch.

Bad news if you have a 500 in inventory right now.
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Old 03-14-2014, 12:44 PM   #2
XDCX
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I think Chrysler/Auburn Hills is absolutely screwing over the dealers who stepped up and signed on to be a Fiat dealer. The whole idea that a dealer could support a store that only had a single new product and no units in service to support Fixed Operations was insane.

Many of our members on the forum were opposed to the concept that Fiats would be sold via their own dealer network and there's no question in my mind that Auburn Hills and the CJDR dealer network would have been miles ahead if Chrysler decided to sell Fiats via the CJDR network.

That said, it's all water under the bridge now....

Concerning Fiat auction prices, I know that Chrysler was dumping a lot of Fiat 500s into the rental fleets during the initial launch to pump-up their sales results. Does it appear that the rental Fiat 500s ever made it to auction or are they likely still in service as rental cars?
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Old 03-15-2014, 10:53 PM   #3
adastra
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I do not pay much attention to rental sales, as my niche is older cars.

Your post makes me wonder about the balls dealers had in the 80s signing up for a Lexus franchise. At least the Fiat 500 was proven enormously successful overseas.
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Old 03-17-2014, 08:06 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by adastra View Post
I do not pay much attention to rental sales, as my niche is older cars.

Your post makes me wonder about the balls dealers had in the 80s signing up for a Lexus franchise. At least the Fiat 500 was proven enormously successful overseas.
The Lexus dealer body was nearly 100% Toyota dealers who knew that they could bring the near ritual of service from the Toyota side to Lexus. Toyota owners do whatever the dealer says do, because they know it will make their car last. Lexus followed that trend. There was some bucking from people that came to Lexus from Cadillac/Lincoln/Europe, ect - but for the most part the Lexus customers are as fanatical about doing maintinance as the Toyota people.
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Old 03-18-2014, 05:48 PM   #5
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I don't have a lot to chime in with here, but I can't sell a used one to save my life and am happy we were given the CDJR franchise after the Fiat brand launch, so there was never any pressure for us to be roped into it!

I know that one of our local Fiat dealers inherited a bunch of inventory from the previous Fiat operator who couldn't hack it (with low overhead too -- he was in a mall!) so now they are screwed with a too-large facility shared with Maserati and a ton of Fiats! Around 110 of them -- 73 of them 2013s... I suppose now is the time for the deal of deals if any of the forum braintrust wants one

http://www.fiatusaofindianapolis.com...&SBprice=clear

Judging by the discounts, these 2013 Fiats have more dealer cash or rebate than some of the left of 2013 CDJR product!

They only have 10 Maseratis in stock, and none of the base model Ghibli -- which they had several of at last check a few months ago -- so perhaps it is actually selling well?
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Old 03-24-2014, 12:31 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
I don't have a lot to chime in with here, but I can't sell a used one to save my life and am happy we were given the CDJR franchise after the Fiat brand launch, so there was never any pressure for us to be roped into it!
I was wondering how the Fiat 500s were selling as used cars - based on your experience it doesn't sound like they're flying off the lot.

That said, I wonder if the Fiat 500 will end up being a good car for people who are buried with negative equity - essentially a car that has a low wholesale price relative to the book value that allows a dealer enough advance to get a customer financed.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
I know that one of our local Fiat dealers inherited a bunch of inventory from the previous Fiat operator who couldn't hack it (with low overhead too -- he was in a mall!) so now they are screwed with a too-large facility shared with Maserati and a ton of Fiats! Around 110 of them -- 73 of them 2013s... I suppose now is the time for the deal of deals if any of the forum braintrust wants one

http://www.fiatusaofindianapolis.com...&SBprice=clear

Judging by the discounts, these 2013 Fiats have more dealer cash or rebate than some of the left of 2013 CDJR product!
Thanks for the link - that was very interesting.

As a dealer I sure as hell wouldn't want to be sitting on 73 prior model year vehicles as we head toward the beginning of April. It would be one thing if a dealer with 1,000 new units in inventory had 73 prior model year vehicles in stock, but the dealer in this example only has about 100 new cars in total.

Also interesting that the first Fiat Dealer sold out - it would be interesting to know what the terms of the buy/sell were. I'm guessing there wasn't any Blue Sky....

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Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
They only have 10 Maseratis in stock, and none of the base model Ghibli -- which they had several of at last check a few months ago -- so perhaps it is actually selling well?
Did the Fiat dealer have Maserati initially or did they get it when they got the Fiat franchise? I know Auburn Hills is planning to only award certain Fiat dealers with the Alfa Romeo franchise but I wasn't certain who was making the franchise decisions for Maserati.
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Old 03-25-2014, 02:29 AM   #7
adastra
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The latest buzz I'm hearing top performing Fiat dealers were supposed to be rewarded with Alfa Romeo when they start bringing over their new Spider next year. Fiat group might be changing their minds and distributing them through Maserati dealers.

Another slap in the face to a Fiat studio.
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Old 03-25-2014, 08:00 PM   #8
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Originally Posted by XDCX View Post
That said, I wonder if the Fiat 500 will end up being a good car for people who are buried with negative equity - essentially a car that has a low wholesale price relative to the book value that allows a dealer enough advance to get a customer financed.
There is some truth here... NADA is fairly strong on these used Fiats relative to wholesale, you could definitely get some negative cranked on these little guys -- and apparently you can on the new ones too with all the rebates!


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Also interesting that the first Fiat Dealer sold out - it would be interesting to know what the terms of the buy/sell were. I'm guessing there wasn't any Blue Sky....
I'm going to guess that Chrysler was involved in this dealership bailout. Since it is on the Fiat side I don't know many details, but it just happened out of the blue one day last year.

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Did the Fiat dealer have Maserati initially or did they get it when they got the Fiat franchise? I know Auburn Hills is planning to only award certain Fiat dealers with the Alfa Romeo franchise but I wasn't certain who was making the franchise decisions for Maserati.
Fiat came first in this dealership. Maserati came in the fall last year, with the first real influx of inventory at the start of this year.
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Old 03-26-2014, 07:00 AM   #9
79LilRedExpress
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If they would have just given the 500 to cdjr dealers from the start it would have been win-win for all concerned.

When I started in the business in '77 at a Dodge store (everyone was a stand alone then) we had Colt, as did Plymouth. It wasn't a high volume high profit unit, but it was extra sales we would not have had. Futhermore, Colt would have never made it as a stand alone brand either.
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Old 03-27-2014, 04:45 PM   #10
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Yes, the 500 to CDJ dealers would have been the way to go, all day long. Speaking of the Colt, it's long-removed cousin is once again back in the USA -- the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage, the first Thai-built car that you can buy here in the states! I've had a chance to drive the Mirage on three occasions, and it is surprising well-built and not that far removed from other bargain basement stuff like the Chevy Spark and Nissan Versa... it just packs a lot more standard equipment than its competitors. From $12,990 including destination!

(I am a fan of the new Thai-built model but I figured there's not too many other Mitsu followers on the forum, save for those of us who remember (or owned) the Diamondstar models.
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Old 03-28-2014, 07:43 AM   #11
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We made more money installing air on the Colts than selling the car at retail!
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Old 03-28-2014, 08:27 AM   #12
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if i remember correctly, when we installed an am-fm radio in a colt, and sold it for list, we lost + or - $50. somewhat thin margins! the good old days.
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Old 03-28-2014, 10:42 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mryan55 View Post
Yes, the 500 to CDJ dealers would have been the way to go, all day long. Speaking of the Colt, it's long-removed cousin is once again back in the USA -- the 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage, the first Thai-built car that you can buy here in the states! I've had a chance to drive the Mirage on three occasions, and it is surprising well-built and not that far removed from other bargain basement stuff like the Chevy Spark and Nissan Versa... it just packs a lot more standard equipment than its competitors. From $12,990 including destination!
Thanks for the post - that's interesting information.

I had no idea that MMC was importing a vehicle from Thailand. In some ways it seems hard to believe given Japan's historical dominance with that sector but I've read reports that Japan is losing their manufacturing advantage to less developed countries.

I was at a car show a month or so ago and the local dealer had a Fiat 500L on display. I didn't care for the styling of the over-sized Fiat and thought it was way over-priced and then was somewhat stunned when I read the Monroney and determined the car was built it Croatia. I tend to think of Croatia as a war-torn country with Soviet ties - maybe that's no longer reflective of what's happening in Croatia today.

That said, I doubt the Fiat salespeople go out of their way to point out that the 500L is built in Croatia.

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(I am a fan of the new Thai-built model but I figured there's not too many other Mitsu followers on the forum, save for those of us who remember (or owned) the Diamondstar models.
I remember the old Diamondstar cars. In my opinion the first generation AWD Eagle Talon Tsi was one of the best cars available on the market in the early 1990s. It was fast, it handled well, it had great traction in poor weather and it got pretty decent fuel economy.
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Old 03-29-2014, 08:53 PM   #14
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Throwing this in the mix from an independent dealer/wholesaler standpoint, Fiat 500s are everywhere in the auction lanes as rentals, vast majority are wheel-covered POPs with no desirable equipment. I've been afraid to pull the trigger on one because I just don't want it to languish for 90+ days when I know you can buy a new one with big incentives. Lounges, 500Cs, and Guccis pull respectable money at the sale.

Oddly enough, both Santander lanes at GTB and ADESA Tampa almost always have at least two apiece each week they run. Are these getting lots of subprime customers buying new?
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Old 03-30-2014, 07:36 PM   #15
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For the last two years or so, Santander Consumer USA / Chrysler Capital have been doing special rate opportunities on the 500, so there are quite a few of these things out there rolling on the subprime program. I have no idea how many nationally, but the program has been going on since 2012.

I tried my luck with a 2012 500 Sport with ~25k miles a few months back. After 60 days I blew it out for $10,499 online, but still no luck. I ultimately sent it to one of my sister stores, where it ultimately sold about 120 days after I acquired it.
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