Fiat Fail?

[faucet47custom]

I know they were available on our side of the pond for a bit, but what caused them to tuck tail and retreat? I thought of this because they are launching a massive ad campaign to be cool again. I guess it helps that they own Chrysler now.

P.S. It doesn't hurt that they have Jennifer Lopez in the commercial, I'm just saying.

[Plymouthy Adams]

hopefully they will take advantage of the massive distribution and dealerships already established..something that Mercedes did not..they skimmed the cream off what was left of Chrysler with nothing going back in...

[1941Rick]

Asked my dodge dealer why they did not have any on the lot and his reply was "not at present dealer lots". going on their own.....sounds stupid to me

[hkestes41]

Asked my dodge dealer why they did not have any on the lot and his reply was "not at present dealer lots". going on their own.....sounds stupid to me

I saw a fairly large inventory of Fiat 500's on the Chrysler Jeep dealer lot in Ft Lauderdale about a month ago when in town on business.

[Young Ed]

I saw one 500 driving around with a dealer plate on it about 6months ago. Haven't seen one since.

[Mark D]

Saw the 500's on display at the LA auto show last fall, the showroom was swamped with people if I recall. Last night I saw the first one on the road here in Massachusetts.

[james curl]

I see one or two on a daily basis here in Georgetown Texas. The dealer is located in Austin which is 25 miles south on I 35. Austin is a pretty progressive town and therefore open to try different things, such as FIAT cars. Or Fix It Again Tony.

[Captain Neon]

I know they were available on our side of the pond for a bit, but what caused them to tuck tail and retreat? I thought of this because they are launching a massive ad campaign to be cool again. I guess it helps that they own Chrysler now.

P.S. It doesn't hurt that they have Jennifer Lopez in the commercial, I'm just saying.

I haven't seen the ads with J. Lo. yet. I just about threw a brick at my TV on Sunday with them repeating the same ad with the two over-dressed yuppies going to the drive-in in a 500. Valuable air time that should be reserved for cheerleaders and beer bimbos. Unless the 500 is a mid engine vehicle, why were they both heading to the front of the car with no thing to sit on? Not even a blanket, much less a couple of folding chairs and a cooler.

[greg g]

In there earlier iteration, fiats needed a lot of fixing, and the parts supplien line was unrelaiable, plus there was very little aftermarket support excpept for standard maintenence items. So if something went it was go tot he dealer and wait.

That kinda killed thier reputation especially with the folks who only wanted to put the top down, put gas in and drive.

Always thought the 124's were nice little roadsters, but here in the NE they rusted out from under you quit quickly. We have a Fiat sales Studio in the area. It is seperate from but franchised by a fellow with a Chrysler Dodge jeep alongw with just about all the other cars in the US.

google Drivers Village

[Oldguy48]

Greg is right about Fiats needing a lot of fixing. I had a 1977 sedan that I bought new. It was a fun car to drive and handled great, but a lot of things went wrong with it, and parts became hard to get.

Wayne

[Rusty O'Toole]

Foreign cars had quite a vogue in the fifties. Then Detroit introduced their own compacts, starting with Rambler and Studebaker Lark, then the Corvair, Falcon and Valiant.

This cut the sales of imports considerably, especially the economy cars and sedans, not so much the sports cars and luxury cars like Jaguar.

A lot of foreign car makers dropped the US market because it was too much bother to compete. VW stayed on through thick and thin, because they needed the US dollars to buy steel, aluminum, rubber, etc in order to keep their factories going.

In general the northerners (VW, Mercedes, Volvo) stuck it out while the southerners (Renault, Fiat) cut out when the easy profits ended.

[Niel Hoback]

There is a reason that people say FIAT stands for "Fix It Again, Tony". They developed a reputation about like a Yugo.

[Niel Hoback]

A couple of weeks ago I stopped at Safford Fiat in Fredericksburg, Virginia to see what was up. It looked like some kid had spred out his Matchbox cars on the lawn! They were lined up in all the brightest colors. Some with a sunroof. Some with fancy wheels.

Stickers showed around $18,000 to $21,000. A little too rich for my idea of a toy. Maybe its just me, but old reputations die hard. For that kind of money, I want a real car.

[faucet47custom]

That's what I thought. I'm a little to young to remember seeing them around but I have read about some of what they offered before. There is a Fiat retailer in Birmingham AL that I see from the interstate when I'm there. I've thought about checking them out.

[John Mulders]

Saw the ad for the new 500 (movie) as well.

Not sure what size the actors were ? 4' 5" maybe?

The car looks way bigger than it actually is.

Have great memories of the old version though

John

[greg g]

you can go to your local Dodge dealer an buy a brandy new Fiat Freemont

Journey with a different grille.

[Greenbomb]

Or is the Journey a Freemont with a different grille?

[hkestes41]

No the Freemont is a rebadged Journey that they are just starting to sell in Brazil. I see tons of Fiats when I am down there and have been to the Fiat assembly plant near Sao Paulo a few times as they use some of the connectors the company I work for produces. They have the 500, Palio, Strada (small pckup), Punto, Uno, Doblo (kind of an SUV), Bravo, Stilo. It kind of blows me away the number of different models they sell there.

[greg g]

Perhaps you might like a Lancia (lawn chair) thema from your Chyrsler dealer...

[Dan Hiebert]

Northtown automotive group just opened a Fiat dealership on Sheridan Ave. in Amherst, just outside Buffalo. Drove by it yesterday. They used their old Land Rover dealership. Kind of odd looking because all the "hills" they used to display the Land Rovers are still there, and are bigger than the Fiats, and it looks like a parking lot full of different colored lady-bugs. Not saying the cars a small, now. But I hear Gucci styles some, probably because they're about the size of a handbag anyway.

[Young Ed]

Five Germans in an Audi Quattro arrive at the Italian border. The Italian Customs Officer stops them and tells them "It'sa illegala to putta 5 people in a Quattro."

"Vot do you mean it's illegal?" asks the German driver.

"Quattro meansa four" replies the Italian official.

"Quattro is just ze name of ze fokken automobile" the German says unbelievingly. "Look at ze dam papers: ze car is designed to karry 5 persons."

"You canta pulla thata one on me-aa!" replies the Italian customs officer. "Quattro meansa four. You have five-a people ina your car and thereforea youarra breaking da law."

The German driver replies angrily, "You idiot! Call your supervisor over. I vant to speak to someone viz more intelligence!"

"Sorry" responds the Italian officer, "He can'ta come. He's a busy with a 2 guys in a Fiat Uno."

[thrashingcows]

I know up here in Vancouver BC they have converted one of the old Chrysler dealerships over to a FIAT dealer. Only heard the radio ads, haven't seen it in person yet.

[Rusty O'Toole]

I know they were available on our side of the pond for a bit, but what caused them to tuck tail and retreat? I thought of this because they are launching a massive ad campaign to be cool again. I guess it helps that they own Chrysler now.

P.S. It doesn't hurt that they have Jennifer Lopez in the commercial, I'm just saying.

They sold cars in the American market when the going was easy in the late fifties- early sixties. When the going got tough they took their profits and blew. Falling sales, competition from US compacts and japanese imports plus new safety and emissions laws made the difference.

Just a few years later came the energy crisis, high fuel costs, small car sales took off no matter what the price. A lot of foreign car makers including Fiat got back in the US market and creamed off some good profits for a few years then left their dealers and customers holding the bag again.

Don't be too surprised if they take off in a few years and leave their dealers and customers in the lurch again.