Automotive News today wrote about two conflicts between FCA and its car dealers. The first covers protests filed individually by over twenty Fiat and Alfa Romeo dealerships, following a rewrite of their franchise agreements in December 2016.  The main points of contention are facility requirements, FCA’s obligation to supply vehicles, the possibility of third parties “branded merchandise,” and moving some definitions of dealership obligations to a set of manuals maintained by FCA itself (rather than being in the contracts.)


The other conflict is arising around plans to add 380 dealerships within the US, a substantial boost to the existing (roughly) 2,500. Automotive News’ editorial suggests that these new locations are competing with existing ones, rather than filling geographical holes.

Some friction between dealerships and “factory” are inevitable,  and Automotive News has covered conflicts between other companies and their retail outlets in the past.