On paper, Fiat’s return to the North American market after a 30-year absence was well planned. The first product introduced by the Italian maker was the 500 city car, which had already proven to be a hit in Europe, selling 770,000 units since 2007. Things looked promising in the U.S. as well.
While the 500’s mission was to rival BMW’s Mini, its 2011 sales of 26,000 units were almost half of original forecasts. Delays in the launch and the dealer network certainly played a role while Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne also thinks that the company’s strategy was to blame.
“We thought we were going to show up and, just because of the fact people like gelato and pasta, people will buy it”, he told reporters last week. “This is nonsense”.
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