Fiat Brand Sales for January 2019

[tvmaster]

I'll still stick with Fiat 500 just because I like small cars and it's stylish

ditto. Looking for a replacement for my 11-year-old Mazda 3 hatch, fun, easy to park, super-reliable. The only thing I have to worry about is people driving small busses who say “I don’t feel safe in a car smaller than this”, as they hold their iPhone in one hand because they’ve never figured out how the Bluetooth hooks up in the Escalade...

[woodyracing]

So just for fun, I work at a Fiat dealer and the reason Fiat sales suck for January is pretty simple to explain. Fiat JUST let us start ordering 2019 500X's that won't be here for a few more months and 2019 500s haven't started arriving yet. The 500L is mostly irrelevant and it's winter, so 124s aren't going to sell in huge quantities (although we had a good month with them in Alabama). Our store ran out of 500Xs months ago and we're just waiting until the 19's start arriving. We only have one 500 Abarth in right now and 3 other 500s. We have a bunch of 124s and that's it. If dealers are having a slow Fiat month, it's likely because a lot are in the same boat we are, just don't have anything to sell right now.

[tvmaster]

And that’s FCA’s fault I imagine? There are about 10 500 Abarth’s available between Los Angeles and San Diego, Ca. A population base of about 20 million people. I’ve only seen two actually on the road, and in the last six months, maybe one Alfa Giulia. Lots of Jeep/Ram/Chargers though....

[Ando]

...as they hold their iPhone in one hand because they’ve never figured out how the Bluetooth hooks up in the Escalade...

You have no idea how much this irritates me...

Not wanting to drive a small car because of safety is another annoyance, but at least it's a lot easier to understand.

[Southernroadrunner]

Let us not forget the #1 prioritys in the automobile market. It's all that's advertised on tv and almost anywhere. Jeep's SUV SUV SUV and pickup trucks
That's all because that's the market and the money. I drive and move cars for 6 different car dealers and that's all I ever chase anymore. I will have to say though from the comments above the dealer closest to me that sells Fiats probably has more than I have seen on a car dealers lot in along time. Several pops
and 3-4 124's but only 1 Abarth with an automatic. They told me they sell on an average of 4-5 a month now.

[Ando]

Sadly my local studio is primarily an AR dealer these days. 17 FIATs across all models, verses 58 Alfas. I am pleased to see that they actually have two more Giulias than Stelvios. On Stelvio launch their lot was a sea of SUVs. It felt very foreign. I'm happy for AR but I miss the days when they had 10 Abarths and gobs of other 500s to choose between.

Edit: I know I know, I shouldn't complain about the success of AR when others don't even have a competent studio for service.

[tvmaster]

They just closed the local AR/FIAT Studio here in SoCal. BMW, BMW, Mercedes & Audi. Don’t these people know you can’t be a petrol head if you haven’t owned at least ONE Italian car?