Fiat Chrysler Dealership Network Launch In India Around Festive Period

In a bid to recover from a harsh dip in sales, Fiat is reportedly planning to sell its cars through the multi-brand Fiat Chrysler group dealerships in India. The move, which has paid dividends for the Italian carmaker globally, will add more outlets to the current independent Fiat dealership network. 

This renewed bunch of dealerships will be first set up in Mumbai around the festive period, according to ET Auto. It will be home to Fiat-brand cars with Jeep-brand ones following, whenever they arrive at Indian shores. 

Touting it as a long-term move, Kevin Flynn, managing director of Fiat Chrysler, said that the company’s business is not about the volumes it is doing right now. “If it was about the volumes we are doing right now then we would not need half the people we have now and infrastructure we have now. It is not about where we are today, it is about where we will be in future. The new FCA will showcase our new face,” he said. 

Of late, Fiat’s sales volumes have hit a record low, with the company selling under 600 units for the month of July, across close to a hundred outlets in the country. The recent launch of the Linea 125S and various discounts haven’t hit the right note with customers either. This failure is believed to be a result of the brand’s tartan history and the perception of its cars being high maintenance.

The company plans to address the problems plaguing it with the new dealership format. “The company has already addressed the sustainability aspect of its dealers by reworking the incentive structure, and now it is in the process of defining the future product map to bring back the brand Fiat into sizeable volumes,” Flynn added.