Auto News is reporting less than 50% of Fiat dealers profitable.

[steve_biegler]

An article in auto news is saying that less that 50% of the Fiat dealers are profitable, and the profitable ones are sharing expences with their CDRJ stores or they would be included in the unprofitable bunch. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised.

I wonder what forum predicted this??
I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

[AR2]

Originally Posted by steve_biegler

An article in auto news is saying that less that 50% of the Fiat dealers are profitable, and the profitable ones are sharing expences with their CDRJ stores or they would be included in the unprofitable bunch. I'm not sure why anyone is surprised.

I wonder what forum predicted this??
I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

You know, I was thinking about this same thing the past few days. I don't know if anybody has noticed, but the Fiat 500's monthly sales have been declining the last few months. I think Fiat only sold ~2,700 units that month. It might be lower, I can't remember. I just know the number stood out to me. And isn't the bigger 500L on the market as well? I think I've only seen 1 of those on the road so far. You would think the month sales numbers would increase with a new model coming to the lineup. Somebody in Auburn Hills better be updating his/her resume'.

Since Fiat usually sells anywhere between 2k and 4k units a month, I can't imagine what the average dealership sales rate is. How do these dealers survive with only the 500 (its variants) and 500L?

To top it off, Fiat dealers may not get Alfa Romeo as promised. Apparently Alfa Romeo's launch has been postponed until the second quarter of next year and the new sports car (4C maybe?) is reportedly going to be sold by Maserati dealers!?! Maybe the press is wrong on what is being reported, I don't know. Still, it doesn't sound good if the news reports are indeed accurate.

[steve_biegler]

Here is the article guys and gals, sorry I forgot to post it before.

http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...meback-stalls#

[XDCX]

Steve - thanks for creating the thread.

I saw the headline from AN in their Sunday night email about Fiat Dealers who are not happy but I haven't had a chance to read the article.

I should have a chance to read the article and get caught up later tonight. It will be interesting to see how critical AN is of Chrysler and whether they found any dealers to go on the record. AN seems to treat the OEMs with kid-gloves and I'm guessing the headline of the story is more provocative than the contents.

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by XDCX

I should have a chance to read the article and get caught up later tonight. It will be interesting to see how critical AN is of Chrysler and whether they found any dealers to go on the record. AN seems to treat the OEMs with kid-gloves and I'm guessing the headline of the story is more provocative than the contents.

I finally had a chance to read the story and for the most part it was exactly what I thought it would be. There were no dealers who were willing to go on record and Automotive News was pretty soft once the headline was written.

I did think it was interesting that Auburn Hills has bumped the number of Fiat dealers from 180 to 210 and that the new Fiat 500L has been mostly a non event. I also wasn't aware that Auburn Hills had signaled the first Alfa Romeo to be sold in the U.S. will likely be sold my the Maserati dealers, not the Fiat dealers.

On a final note, I thought it was interesting to read the comments that followed the story - many of them echo what has been stated here for years.

[conn02]

you all know what the solution to this problem was, give this one trick pony (Fiat) to the Dodge Dealers and let us sell them

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by conn02

you all know what the solution to this problem was, give this one trick pony (Fiat) to the Dodge Dealers and let us sell them

I totally agree.

I remember when the Chrysler/Fiat deal was first rumored most of our CJDR members had very favorable opinions regarding the Fiat 500 and were looking forward to being able to sell the car to their customers who were looking for a small car.

Marchionne insulted the CJDR dealers when he announced the Fiat 500 would be sold by a separate dealer network and then further insulted the CJDR dealers by only inviting a select portion of the dealer network to attend a "The Fiat Experience" event in Detroit.

Almost all of our members were in agreement that it was insane to think that a new dealership, with a single model, that had ZERO customer base could prosper.

Fortunate for Marchionne, he found enough dealers drinking the Kool-aid that he eventually filled 210 points - the the majority of them now losing money in the hottest car market the industry has had since the recession.

[lsx only]

I drove by a fiat dealership on the way to talladega this past weekend,fiat should have been given to the dodge dealers and not a single point fiat store.

[mryan55]

I think there is a spot in this world for the "Fiat Studios," but by having standalone behemoth dealerships it is just a model for disaster.

Here in Metro Indianapolis the first two Fiat dealerships were awarded to existing CDJR dealerships who put their respective stores inside shopping malls and still did fixed ops at the existing CDJR point. Fast forward 24 months, one dealership has folded and the other is hobbling along at 8-10 cars per month... surely not profitable.

Dealerconnect shows that one of the stores sold 5 last months and the replacement to the closed dealer sold 7.

Strong performance in a metro of 2MM+!

[XDCX]

Originally Posted by mryan55

I think there is a spot in this world for the "Fiat Studios," but by having standalone behemoth dealerships it is just a model for disaster.

I totally agree.

With the continued delay in launching Alfa and the prospect that not all of the Fiat dealers may get the Alfa franchise it's hard to imagine how Auburn Hills is going to fix the mess that Marchionne created.

My bet is Auburn Hills won't even make an effort to fix the mess. Auburn Hills will just let the Fiat dealers flounder as they focus on more pressing issues to keep the CJDR "cash cow" alive.

No doubt there will be a lot of BS emanating from Marchionne and Auburn Hills about their plans for Fiat/Alfa in the U.S. but that's not going to do anything to prevent the majority of their dealers from spilling more red ink on their Financial Statement.