Why do you think Fiat is not doing well in the USA?

WantAnX1/9

WantAnX1/9

Stuck in gear, leaking fluids, fire in progress...
Billions invested to re-enter the US market, but with limited success.

What do you all think are the reasons Fiat may again pull out of the US market entirely?

What would it take to turn it all around?

Sales are in the tank...Only 15k units sold in USA in '18.

I would love to have a re-imagined X 1/9 based upon the 500 Abarth mechanicals. A guy can dream, I guess...

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/05/why-fiats-classic-italian-cars-are-struggling-in-the-us.html
 
They seem to have too many brands for one company. Spending time and money on Alfa and not updating Fiat models. I think FCA has been spending to much time trying to merge with other companies rather than creating new improved vehicles.
 
Fiat cars typically do not do very well in objective testing compared to the competition. The reliability data is also not very good. I'm not at all surprised they are doing poorly in the US. There are better choices out there for most of what they are trying to sell here.
 
DaveR said:
They seem to have too many brands for one company. Spending time and money on Alfa and not updating Fiat models. I think FCA has been spending to much time trying to merge with other companies rather than creating new improved vehicles.
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Ah yes, the "urge to merge"...

dllubin said:
Fiat cars typically do not do very well in objective testing compared to the competition. The reliability data is also not very good. I'm not at all surprised they are doing poorly in the US. There are better choices out there for most of what they are trying to sell here.
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A shame, really.
 
Fiat is not in the US. They sell basically 3 car models out of the full line of products. Plus Americans like big cars/SUVs. I know the 500X is selling very well as the Jeep Renegade. About 100,000 a year for the last 3 years.
 
Poor reliability and a selection of 1 vehicle platform, and that platform is a bit of a "boutique" car that is only going to be popular with a small segment of the market. Not to mention a thin dealer presence and their ridiculous rules early on about dealerships having to be standalone and not part of another dealer network.
 
Pete Whitstone said:
Not to mention a thin dealer presence and their ridiculous rules early on about dealerships having to be standalone and not part of another dealer network.
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Rumor has it that the Fiats are orphans at the local FCA dealership here in STL. Fortunately, I haven't had a need to go to the dealership for service. When the Studio closed, the dealer that owned the studio pushed the Fiats out to a Dodge/Jeep dealership pretty far from the original location. I went out there once and they had only a handful of cars. The salesman said he didn't know much about them and that was that. At least you don't get a high pressure sales pitch??? :)
 
They brought a reputation with them and it wasn't a good reputation. The 500s look cute and are fun to drive but are the wrong size an they don't have a great reliability reputation. The 500 should have been at least VW Golf sized. The spider appeals to an even tinier market and they have to compete directly with the most successful small sports car ever, the Miata.

In other words, it was terrible marketing on Fiat's part. I'm a Fiat nut but for old Fiats, I drove several Abarth 500s and after due consideration bought a GTI.

I see lots of advertisements on our favorite "car" tv channel for the Roxor which appears to be a very early Jeep clone although it is not road legal. If Fiat had brought over something like this but road legal they would have sold boat loads of them....for awhile, just like that small Suzuki 4x4 years ago.
 
carl said:
They brought a reputation with them and it wasn't a good reputation. The 500s look cute and are fun to drive but are the wrong size an they don't have a great reliability reputation. The 500 should have been at least VW Golf sized. The spider appeals to an even tinier market and they have to compete directly with the most successful small sports car ever, the Miata.

In other words, it was terrible marketing on Fiat's part. I'm a Fiat nut but for old Fiats, I drove several Abarth 500s and after due consideration bought a GTI.

I see lots of advertisements on our favorite "car" tv channel for the Roxor which appears to be a very early Jeep clone although it is not road legal. If Fiat had brought over something like this but road legal they would have sold boat loads of them....for awhile, just like that small Suzuki 4x4 years ago.
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Carl got it with the bit about reputation.
I have owned Fiats a driven them many trouble free miles since 1975.
Many times has some dink wad that doesn't know squat about cars come up and parroted a disparaging remark about Fiats.

I agree with the rest of what Carl says so I guess he got it all right.
 
Engines that are underpowered. Bad reputation for quality. Micro-size cars instead of mini size cars. If you want what the X1/9 could have been, you can spend a ton of money and get an Alfa 4C. Too bad Fiat didn't make an equivalent model for 50% of the price.

When you shop the Fiat 500 against the Mini-Cooper, other than brand loyalty and a couple thousand less, the Fiat has none of the necessary tools.

BTW - on that Roxor? Try to price one out so you can use it on your own farm, and you'll end up spending as much as a base Jeep, with fewer amenities.
 
Fake news?

I keep telling my 2013 500 pop that you are supposed to be unreliable... Oops there goes my wife on her daily 110 mile commute. I offered to buy her a bigger car since she is on the highway for most of her commute. She flatly said NO.

Hell I even take it on long trips.

So people who don't own these cars say they are unreliable??? Please stop.

Thanks for listening to my uniformed unbiased opinion.

PS the car has a hard 130,000 worth of unforgiving PA turnpike miles.

Oh God, a VW? I had a VW once, never again. Compared to the VW my 500 is the most reliable car ever.
 
lanciahf said:
Fake news?

I keep telling my 2013 500 pop that you are supposed to be unreliable... Oops there goes my wife on her daily 110 mile commute. I offered to buy her a bigger car since she is on the highway for most of her commute. She flatly said NO.

Hell I even take it on long trips.

So people who don't own these cars say they are unreliable??? Please stop.

Thanks for listening to my uniformed unbiased opinion.

PS the car has a hard 130,000 worth of unforgiving PA turnpike miles.

Oh God, a VW? I had a VW once, never again. Compared to the VW my 500 is the most reliable car ever.
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I drove a base Sport 500, and also an Abarth...both 5-speeds.

I came away impressed. The Abarth practically is a revelation in hot hatches most of us Americans never see, save for the GTI, and RS/ST (RIP, Ford).
 
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They don't advertise. Look across the hall at the dodge marketing department, they are constantly playing ads for ram trucks, dodge suv's and the muscle cars. Fiat makes a small attempt to advertise when they release a new model for about 2 months and then stops any national ad campaigns and leaves it up to the dealerships. Most dealers don't have the budget to advertise so the brand awareness isn't there and so on...
 
lanciahf said:
Fake news?

I keep telling my 2013 500 pop that you are supposed to be unreliable... Oops there goes my wife on her daily 110 mile commute. I offered to buy her a bigger car since she is on the highway for most of her commute. She flatly said NO.

Hell I even take it on long trips.

So people who don't own these cars say they are unreliable??? Please stop.

Thanks for listening to my uniformed unbiased opinion.

PS the car has a hard 130,000 worth of unforgiving PA turnpike miles.

Oh God, a VW? I had a VW once, never again. Compared to the VW my 500 is the most reliable car ever.
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I think most people are drawing their unreliablility concerns from JD powers and such. Their sampling base is slightly larger than yours... :)

Pete
 
Correct! JD Powers said my 1997 Chevy pickup and VW was a good buy. Both were crapola. Just my real world experience.
 
-Lack of advertising.

-They sell essentially two models.

-Until 2017, they sold only one model.

I don't think they ever committed to the market in the first place.
 
My wife has a 2012 500C and it is notoriously unreliable, plus repairs are difficult. Having said that, she says that when it is finally worn out she wants another one. They are fun to drive, have a nice ride and handle well.

On the plus side, it hasn't had any rust problems. That's one problem Fiat has seemed to have sorted out.

Brian
 
I have to agree with what Carl said at the beginning of this thread. I went into the car market looking for a 500 Abarth about a year ago. Every time I drove one, it was an absolute blast. . . but something deep down inside held me back from pulling the trigger. There were so many little things about it that I couldn't . . . . settle. .. with. Just way too small, no storage space, tacky interior, cheap plastics, ok seats and just acceptable visibility. Drove off the lot with a Veloster Turbo, no regrets.
 
The USA is different than Canada. There are a lot of Fiat 500's on the road here. My Son's car was purchased in May of 2011, still on the road with 140,000 miles on it. Tires, brakes needed to be done. 2 door handles and a corroded lead on the starter. Rear shocks and wheel bearings. The worst part was the evaporator needed to be changed. A 13 hour job. Say what you may, the car has been very good. Now you want to talk about a bad vehicle, my 2014 Ram 2500 truck with the 6.7 Cummins, a long list of issues, most recent, both front fenders rusted through 63 months since new, I even oil sprayed the truck each year for 5 years. Ram replaced the fenders, but really? Say what you like the Fiat 500 is better than the Ram Truck I have.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
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