Laura, do your ears burn....?

[Fiat #183]

Now delivery at a Maserati dealership would have been a hoot.  If they had just done what they promised and trucked it to my house with a retro car cover on it they would have sold a dozen more right here where I live. Bottomline, the dealer I got mine from didn't even know he had it.  DUH! how hard are they to keep track of?

I was one of the first owners of a Can Am Spyder #610 and they did a much better job of it although their vehicle was not quite ready for prime time:  First owners jackets, manufacturer sponsored meetups, mileage pins and so on. .  I rode that for 2 years and 45,000 miles and I would guess there were maybe five times that I stopped and someone did NOT come over to talk about it.  On the Fiat I have had maybe five casual comments in the first month. Once they hear what the fuel mileage is they lift their noses and walk away muttering that their XXX is better.

Don't get me wrong. I am content with my Fiat #183.  Not wildly enthusiastic but content.  It reminds me of a 67 Renault R-10 that I had at one point.  

I am not likely to sell any of these for Fiat with the early on treatment I received.

[Giallo Edizione]

Fiat #183 wrote

Now delivery at a Maserati dealership would have been a hoot.

My new '74 FIAT 124 Spider WAS delivered at a Maserati dealership (which also sold Volvos). The hoot factor of looking at the Bora and Citroen-Maserati in same showroom as FIAT lost its appeal after the umpteenth time returning my car for so-called servicing. But that was then and now is now. I don't expect the current day servicing experience to be at all like that - so far it's been great at my dealer.

Which has nothing at all to do with Laura's incompetence. She stands on her own.

[Terry]

Hi Guys,

Think we may be losing the plot here a bit. I believe that FIAT is timing its promo blitz for when more dealers are open and that, let's face it, they used the loyal FIAT cognoscenti to work out the bugs in both the system and the cars...Think Laura may be getting a bit of flack by virtue of her being female and that surely isn't right...It is tough to get back in the market after being out for 27 years so there are bound to be rough spots...Anyway, thats my 2 centavos.

Terry  

[sonicsby5]

I'm with Terry on this one.  Laura is just the face we all see.  She's the spokesperson for a MASSIVE, slow moving corporation that is daily making decisions that Laura can't do anything about.  Laura also has little influence over individual dealers, and zero control over the State governments who hand out licenses to sell cars.  

I just don't think there's that much Laura could have done differently in this roll out when you consider all of the outside forces at work.  I'm willing to cut her some slack.

[Giallo Edizione]

You have got to be kidding.

First off, criticism of her performance, or rather lack thereof, has nothing at all to do with her gender.

Here is her job description from Motor Trend on March 10,2010

"Chrysler announced today that it was appointing Soave as the head of all Fiat brand operations in the U.S. and Canada. As is the case with the “CEOs” of the other Chrysler divisions, Soave will hold full responsibility for all profits and losses incurred by Fiat vehicles in North America, and will spearhead integrating Fiat offerings into Chrysler’s existing sales and service networks."

She is head of the division folks, top dog, buck stops here, the whole bit. She's not a "spokesperson". She has full operational responsibility; full responsibility for all profits and losses. If it succeeds, she gets the kudos and the bonus, if it fails, she takes the hit. That's what happens with management ( or supposed to anyways).  Waiting for the marketing train wreck that may be coming would be a huge mistake for Chrysler. I believe there is sufficent evidence that she does not have the stuff to make this work and needs to be replaced with a competent leader and team that can save the FIAT market intro before disaster strikes. It doesn't matter how good the car is if nobody is convinced its a car that they want BEFORE they walk into a showroom.

You think your 500 is cheaper than the equivalent MINI? Let's compare the relative depreciation after five years if this isn't turned around.
Example: Base 2011 MINI cooper delivered $20,000. Base 500 $16,000

MINI published 5 year depreciation rate: 53% residual

Let's use, say Dodge Neon as a proxy for heavy depreciation ( and that wasn't a failed car): 23% residual

5 year depreciation: MINI $9400, FIAT $12,300( gets worse optioned up)


Her incompetence is costing all FIAT 500 owners real money. The trend for mismanagement is there-it is a stark reality that executives that are failing rarely turn their own bad situations around.

[Welshy]

The trend for mismanagement will always be there because we the tax payer, will always be thre to bail them out. We have in 1979, 1980, 2009, 2010 and looking like 2011. We the tax payer now own 8.6% of Chrysler.
It's the old crows of Chrysler that need to be reprimanded and not Laura Soave. They kept their jobs when everything fell around them. Working for any large company, every one has to take responsibility for success and failure and if the higher management (well above Laura) can't sort their act out, and the union workforce can't take pride in what they build, there's no hope for those trying to make a difference.
As for FIAT quality, blame the UAW. They demand higher wages than any other car worker in the world, all the benefits, they own the largest slices of Chrysler (59.2%), and yet they still can't even put car parts together without scratching, misaligning, and p*ss poor painting them.
Marketing and building a brand is one thing, but being blamed for poor quality, late delivery, has to be placed upon the those at Chrysler who get paid to inspect vehicles, work with the Dealerships. All these people have been paid handsomely for not performing.

[littlejohn]

Well, ya know, interesting, valid points to ponder.  
Maybe the plan always was for the dealers to be up by the end of summer?  What about service bays, parts, etc?

I drove by the local dealer today to admire from afar, he has them all in a line as folks drive onto the lot, and from their Facebook posts, they seem to be moving them, so who knows?

Wait and see, time will tell...if they do start discounting them, it will be hard for me to not to buy one.  My purchase is on hold for the time being.  

[cogtooth]

A Fiat can depreciate to $0 in five years, and still have less total depreciation than other cars' losses that I've had in five years.  One can lose the cost of a Fiat when one drives some cars off the lot.

[Fiat #183]

Ditto
She takes the check she should do the job.

[Fiat500USA]

sonicsby5 wrote

I'm with Terry on this one.  Laura is just the face we all see.  She's the spokesperson for a MASSIVE, slow moving corporation that is daily making decisions that Laura can't do anything about.  Laura also has little influence over individual dealers, and zero control over the State governments who hand out licenses to sell cars.  

I just don't think there's that much Laura could have done differently in this roll out when you consider all of the outside forces at work.  I'm willing to cut her some slack.

There is a lot of frustration being felt because we don't know what is (or isn't) happening. Definitely communication needs to be worked on (and it is).  Before conjecture and the assumption that things are in the crapper get out of control, I post the following.

According to this (which I sweat a little putting up):



Even with the delays with the dealers, they are not really off with their preliminary plan and the April 30th date is starting to make sense.  

Dealer delays and the economy are things that are beyond the control of one person.  The argument  could be made that dealer requirements are too strict, but the fact is nobody here wants to buy a car from a Dodge salesperson.  People are bummed if the car doesn't have the car cover on it when you get it, so relaxing the requirements would make it worse.

We all want nice dealerships to go to, and that takes time (and money).  Most of the dealers are moving as quickly as they can safely go. Waiting for them to come on line is a necessary and, at times, painful process.  

I'm not saying things could not have been done better, but when there are thousands of people in the chain, many of whom you don't control, the plan will need to change and adapt.  It is too early to start throwing people overboard.

[littlejohn]

Well, more good points...

I don't think they should have made the dealers/pay to build separate showrooms up front, maybe later, but maybe the taxpayers/Fiat helped pay for them, don't know all the details?   I see the long term plan, more Fiat offerings, so you need a showroom for them, etc.  Makes sense, sure, but I think they could have had a lot more dealers on line already, and more dealers in general if the whole showroom piece was not in the equation up front?


   Now, some even say they should have badged the car the new Neon, and to a degree I agree, look how many Neons were sold, not being the best car aside of course.  

When I mention Fiat to people I work with, they have no clue, and these are the so called "potential urban customers", so far, the cars being sold seem to be going to the middle age crowd, not young people in the 20s?

I don't agree that no one wants to buy a car from a dodge dealership, maybe the members of this board feel that way, but my co-worker just bought a Journey and they are moving all the Challengers they can get, the base models barely stay on the lot a week or so.   Tate Chrysler is still popular in the town here, although It's looking like they bailed on building the showroom, won't sell cars, we'll see.

This board has so few new posts, that it's hardly a blip on the radar.   The fact that Fiat is behind with dealer rollout, the PE delays, etc....99% of the country doesn't know, and couldn't care less to know...Laura Soave, who?

For the average person, their purchase will probably go like this :   "honey, that's a cute car, let's go test drive one this weekend", and then they buy it or not.

I kinda like Laura myself.......who wants to see the same old suits pushing Faits?, I don't....she reminds me of Racheal Ray a bit, but she's building Fiats in 30 minutes instead of meals.  

[Giallo Edizione]

littlejohn wrote

I kinda like Laura myself.......who wants to see the same old suits pushing Faits?, I don't....she reminds me of Racheal Ray a bit, but she's building Fiats in 30 minutes instead of meals.

WDR I'd rather see someone who reminds me of Lee Iacocca. Somebody who has the clear credentials to turn this around into something successful, not remind me of a TV cooking star.

[ciddyguy]

Some good points were indeed brought up in recent comments and I have to say, I'm of the demographic who knew Fiat back in the day, not personally in that I owned one, never had the opportunity as, one, I was too young to drive and two, when I WAS old enough, they were on the verge of bailing on the US (would do so about a year or 2 later).

That aside, once Fiat begins the actual ad campaign, assuming they don't rely too much on the nostalgic aspect of the car, people will begin to become aware of what this little car is.

Over on the Truth About Cars a while back (in the fall anyway) there had been discussions about whether Ford is actually selling the Fiesta or are they sitting on the lot as people move to larger cars due to it's size and performance Vs the premium price, well, I just saw another new Fiesta last night, so new it didn't have its plates yet and they ARE selling, at least here in Seattle, though I don't see a lot of them on the road yet, but with gas in many stations now at $3.99 for 87 octane regular, I predict more of cars like it and the Fiat selling as gas prices soar.

That said, the Fiat is JUST now coming on the market where dealer's exist, give Fiat credit where it's due but I WILL concede that communication was lacking (sadly, a common thing wherever you look) and it was NOT just Fiat, but dealers and others wanting to jump in on the bandwagon and many stumbled all over themselves to do it, which didn't help the situation AT ALL.

But as I've said before, Fiat put this all together in a very short timeline, it's a wonder it went off at all and that they are more or less on target with their plans.

And while I'm not defending Fiat, I DO agree with Chris when he says, there WERE circumstances they either could not control, nor anticipate and have had to adjust accordingly and right now, there is this thing called the economy that's put a BIG wrench into the works in that it's taking dealers MUCH longer to get their licenses in many states due to a shortage of workers at DMV's due to state budget crunches.

In the end, when all is said and done, I think Fiat will do OK, if not great, once dealers are up and running and other models (like perhaps, a modified Panda (slightly better equipped with safety features anyway) and other models, both the size of the current 500 or a bit larger, giving people choices in what they want to buy from the company as I predict gas prices may well hit $5 a Gal by year's end and perhaps stay up above $4 a Gal from now on for the most part.

[5*(10)^2]

#183,

I share the same sentiments as bolded/italicized. I am glad we poured it out here and I am not the only one feeling this way.

My 500 is waiting to be fixed (as outlined in the other thread). While waiting so, the car is in storage. That's right. I haven't driven it for 2 weeks now. Not exactly missing it that much either. I have got a plethora of other cars that I really enjoy driving. You know that feeling when you just want to drive/ride for the sake of driving/riding? Yep. The 500 has yet to instill that in me.

I am not seeking the attention from the public with the 500. In fact I still have more pple asking about the Smart than the Fiat. Over the month of the 500 ownership, the places I visited where folks actually recognized the car are Little Italy, La Jolla and Beverly Hills. Recognize a pattern? Pple there know about Fiat and/or seen/driven one in Europe.

The Maserati thought came out of a conversation with a friend working at Rolls Royce dealership. I visited him with the 500 and let him have a go with it. And almost all the RR staff came out including the owner. Then there were customers who were shopping for a RR whom ended up asking questions about my 500!

I reckon, the first steps are extremely important when setting up a new brand, introducing a new product into the market. In Fiat's case it's RE-introducing a brand.

Fiat #183 wrote

On the Fiat I have had maybe five casual comments in the first month. Once they hear what the fuel mileage is they lift their noses and walk away muttering that their XXX is better.

Don't get me wrong. I am content with my Fiat #183.  Not wildly enthusiastic but content.  It reminds me of a 67 Renault R-10 that I had at one point.  

I am not likely to sell any of these for Fiat with the early on treatment I received.

[cogtooth]

littlejohn:

I haven't seen a Fiat in Frederick, yet.  Do you have one, or will mine 2 weeks from now be the first?

[Fiat #183]

I reckon, the first steps are extremely important when setting up a new brand, introducing a new product into the market. In Fiat's case it's RE-introducing a brand.


I think they kind of missed on the first steps and that sort of does it for me.  I am not going to spend a lot of time hanging around a Dodge Dealership even if you do call it a Fiat Studio.  Well I would but there would have to be something to draw me in and that is not likely to happen.

This little car is a good car for back and forth to the gym and a grocery getter.  When I can get it out on my twisty roads it is fun but the lack of horses make it a challenge. I live in a neighborhood where some people have spent as much on a golf cart to do the same things I do, and this is a lot better than a golf cart.

[DennisLee]

Hi Chris:

Just curious. (You may have already answered this question.)

Do you have direct contact with Laura?

Thanks
Dennis

[littlejohn]

Hello cogtooth, I have not seen one around town.   Sooner or later I guess, I'll keep an eye out for yours.  Panera seems like the likely stop around these parts for a 500, yes?  



Also, Giallo ED...

your reply made me laugh, in a good way, thanks...I'm a fan of Lee's actually, everyone should take the time to watch Frontline's Santuary Economics series he is part of.  Of course, for his next book he can just substitute the work jobs in the place of leaders.


Now, you have me thinking.  Laura and Rachael could drive around in a 500C visiting hot food stops all across America!  Yummo, yet another Food Network 1st...

 

[Giallo Edizione]

littlejohn wrote

Now, you have me thinking.  Laura and Rachael could drive around in a 500C visiting hot food stops all across America!  Yummo, yet another Food Network 1st...

Italian food.

[sjmst]