Only 20% of Dealerships Ready in Feb?

[Vlad92]

Just got this article today.  Sounds like only 20% of the Fiat Dealers will be ready to deliver in Feb from what Laura said.  

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110117/CARNEWS/110119910

[Minuszka]

That may not mean that they can't deliver our Prima Ediziones!? I hope more than 20% would. I think / hope that it only means that the studios for retail will be ready a month or two later.

[Fiat500USA]

I know they want us all to get the total Fiat Experience, so that might mean we'll have to travel to the nearest open dealer. There is suppose to be some correspondence coming soon to the dealers so they know how the Prima's will be handled. We'll all find out shortly.

[Mike S]

There is no reason NOT to deliver Primas if the studios are not quite done. Fiats need to be on the street to let others know the time has finally come. Fiats are available now.

You don't need a studio for dealer prep and delivery.

[Fiat500USA]

Mike S wrote

There is no reason NOT to deliver Primas if the studios are not quite done. Fiats need to be on the street to let others know the time has finally come. Fiats are available now.

You don't need a studio for dealer prep and delivery.

That is the big holdup. Whether to deliver the cars without the studio open or not. They do need the service department open, though and parts, too... that is a must.  I could do without the "lounge" seating and the showroom fixtures, etc. being 100%.

[Minuszka]

My nearest dealer seems to be selling Chryslers  - I can assume many others too - so they have an up and running service etc. facility, just not a Fiat showroom yet.

[Fiat500USA]

They need the Fiat service training and tools.  Dealers are suppose to be informed shortly on how the PE is going to work. They are struggling with the desire to get us the cars but also have service support ready.

[jdjefferson]

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[Fiat500USA]

jdjefferson wrote

I think the solution is simple. Fiat should fly all the PE owners to a Fiat dealer that's open (I suggest Los Angeles)!  It would be the right thing to do! Let's have a big introduction for the 500-- Sergio could be there and Chrysler execs.  It works for Oprah.

Yeah, LA sounds great, it's 70° there, right now I'm at 29°!

[Mike S]

No, LA is too cold. 82 degrees here and you don't NEED a wetsuit to swim.

I dropped by my most local dealership and found nothing started but I expected that because he had already talked to me about the building permit process. The dealership for Chrysler and Jeep has no visibility from anywhere nearby. It is not even on a road with a decent traffic count.

I had a hard time finding the place which appears to be a high rise (for here) parking structure with the dealership on the back side. It did not have a good feel and was not visible. There is only one way in and one way out. The sign would have to be on the Goodyear blimp.

Once inside the dealership was nice with lots of people. A bonus for me was the sandwich shop inside with REAL Vienna Beef hotdogs from Chicago. I think the owners are from the Chicago area.

They have another location in West Palm Beach and If I must, Miami is about the same distance. I can only hope for more dealers.

[Jim McKenzie]

I have to admit, the overall dealership readiness does not impress me.  On the list of the 130 dealerships I saw Jerry Ulm Dodge near me in Clearwater, FL.   A call to them got me to the assistant manager who said they still didn't know if they got a dealership or not...

A call to Tampa, FL dealerships got me nowhere.  Does it seeem to you this process is FAR more hit and miss than it should be?   You have dealers like Criswell already advertising....some building showrooms and others completely in the dark.  

I'd love to see much more along the business side of things get more solidified and have a few less video on the rounded power windows buttons versus the square one "with a seam" on the Europeans....

No don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing all the info...about the cars, models, accessories...but I'd like to see some meat with the sizzle.
 

[Mike S]

Can't fault the dealers, it's been only 2 months since they were accepted.

Fiat has made some statements about when cars would be delivered. I understand it's not an exact science but we are beyond the expected date and now sooner rather than later is expected.

[Bert]

We have three new dealers.  Our club has invited each to make a presentation to us at a regular meeting and so far only one has responded.  He did a great job and seems to be very willing to work with us to promote our club and the car.

The encouraging news was 1. When asked about the dealer charging about MSRP, he said no-there is a profit within MSRP and they wouldn't charge above it, 2. Techs will be in training in Colorado in a couple of weeks and sales staff will have training in LA at the flagship store,  3. He said FIAT says only factory trained techs are to touch the cars.

He, naturally wanting our business, told us (three PE purchasers in our club) to let FIAT know we want to pickup our cars at his dealership.  He will try to arrange for delivery on the same day so as to have a photo op.

When asked about other models coming later, he feels FIAT is being tightlipped, but plans to introduce more models.  He feels they want to go slowly to ensure it is done right and not hap-hazardly.

All that for what it is worth...

 

[JustWilliam]

  Thanks for the valuable NW update Bert.

  The Portland/Vancouver area will have three dealerships as well, and they too seem to be running in "stealth mode" for now. Your insight as a FIAT club member is appreciated.

[Fiat500USA]

Jim McKenzie wrote

I have to admit, the overall dealership readiness does not impress me.  On the list of the 130 dealerships I saw Jerry Ulm Dodge near me in Clearwater, FL.   A call to them got me to the assistant manager who said they still didn't know if they got a dealership or not...

A call to Tampa, FL dealerships got me nowhere.  Does it seeem to you this process is FAR more hit and miss than it should be?   You have dealers like Criswell already advertising....some building showrooms and others completely in the dark.  

I'd love to see much more along the business side of things get more solidified and have a few less video on the rounded power windows buttons versus the square one "with a seam" on the Europeans....

No don't get me wrong, I LOVE seeing all the info...about the cars, models, accessories...but I'd like to see some meat with the sizzle.
 

What i think we are  seeing is entrepreneurship on the part of the dealers who are moving aggressively and  on the opposite end, for the dealers that don't have a lot to offer, a lack of communication between the dealer principal/management and the staff.

Personally, I can't understand why a dealer wouldn't have an internal meeting to bring everyone up to speed with what's going on concerning the Fiat franchise. Anyone who answers a phone should be able to speak intelligently on the matter. Or should at least have the basics down. I think we've all worked in organizations where communication was lacking and we have seen it negatively impact the consumer. With the amount of money these dealers are having to coming up with, to turn off potential customers because of a simple lack of basic answers is ridiculous.  

Now to be fair, at the moment, there are some things up in the air, for example; concerning the Prima deliveries. A letter went out to the dealers on the 7th telling them that the Prima delivery process  was undergoing some fine tuning and there would be a message in 10-12 days with more information.
So the dealers don't have all (or a lot) of the answers.


As far as getting more meat. The automobile business is all top secret. Especially so in Marchionne's world. That means there aren't a lot of folks talking about confidential stuff. I don't work for Chrysler or Fiat, I just have my ears open and report what I hear and balance what I can reasonably say and still maintain a working relationship with the company.

[Jim McKenzie]

I agree with all that you've written Chrs, and please understand my frustration is NOT with your site, which I think is excellent, but with Fiat's overall marketing. I also think Bert's post was interesting and a good microcosm of what I meant: three dealers in the area, one shows up, does great. The other two don't respond ...such variance. A side point. I belong to the Seattle X1/9 club, (others here do too), and I am forever amazed on how on top of the Fiat scene the Seattle and Northwest guys are. I'm in Florida and we get perhaps 5% of the Fiat news that the Seattle guys come up with. Thank goodness for them, and their posts. Thanks Bert. In the end, I knw we'll all get our cars...but at different times dependent upon individual dealerships. It is however frustrating to see the cars in photos and video and not have any solid for sale date...or even the month. I think I have seen "end of year", "by January 1st", then "February", now "late March early April". I had assumed (!) that they'd be a National Day where anyone could go to a dealer and buy a car. My bad :) On happy Fiat news, my 1973 Fiat 850 Spider just got painted FLY yellow and the engine goes in....tomorrow. It's taken me 16 months to get this far, so you'd think I'd have some patience on the 500 :) Pics here of my 850 restoral. Seems it just went from orange to green to gray to yellow http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagasakee/sets/72157614059700971/

[ciddyguy]

Bert,

Since you live in the NW, which dealer, was it Bob Bivens or was it Rairdon?

Reason I ask is that I follow as best I can the news here and currently don't own a vintage Fiat and hope to at least check out the 500 and if it's as good as the info on them are, I may well buy one, the sport trim and have it BTO.

I've always had a soft spot for Fiat despite their problems with rust and major reliability issues, especially during the 70's before they pulled up stakes and left N.A.

I've been looking for info but have not done any emails to them as yet as when we got the list, Autonation of Seattle, Rairdon Group (their Kirkland location was mentioned) and Bob Bivens, so far, only Bivens has anything mentioning Fiat coming soon on their website (for Tacoma Dodge, which they now own), Rairdon simply has some old blog posts going back to last June and August and nothing since that I can find, but it looks like the Kirkland location's website has been partially stripped out although it still shows Dodge, Chrysler, Ram and Jeep etc brands, but no Fiat. Autonation has had NOTHING mentioned ANYWHERE online about whether they are or are not a dealer and Bob Biven's PDF press release was from Oct, indicating they were choosen etc but nothing since, even mentioning they were looking for a site between Seattle and Tacoma and would let people know when they found it, and the name but I've not seen anything resembling an update on that.

I know you may not be in a position to mention exactly who, but can you give at least a hint?

Thanks. I just hope there is a dealer somewhere between Everett and Tacoma as I live in Seattle. :-)

[Bert]

Rairdon is the dealer I referred to.  They were quick to put up a website but as you mention not much there really.

If we are able to get either of the other dealers to make a presentation to our club I'll post results here.  Also you (or anyone else in the Seattle/Tacoma area) are more than welcome to attend our club meeting if one of them does make a presentation.

You can contact me by email at [e-mail]

[sjmst]

I think Fiat has missed the mark if they think PE purchasers care much about the "experience" of buying the car. Sure, we'd like to be treated right and have a friendly and knowledgeable dealership. But if that happens out the back by the service entrance of a Chrysler dealer not yet running as Fiat "Studio," I'd be just fine with it. Anything that gets me the car sooner rather than later, and closer to home!

[cinquecento]

Hear, Hear !