Fiat 500 to be a dealer draw

A North American version of the Fiat 500 is expected to increase foot traffic and new customers. It will mainly be sold in key metro areas with specific interior showroom branded salons, and a high degree of customization through accessories. The 500 will have dedicated sales and service staff.

Dealer network productivity is to be increased, with redefined dealer standards. Chrysler went from 21% of dealers to 12% in the US, losing 2,831 dealers in the last 19 years. Project Genesis is continuing as planned, to increase franchise attractiveness, profits, and throughput, providing a sound base for reinvestment. Full implementation is due for 2011. At the moment, Chrysler has around 440 sales per dealer in metro areas; the goal is for them to go up over 700. Tight credit is a serious problem especially for dealers — and Chrysler dealers tend to sell fewer cars per month than competitors. New dealer financing will replace Chrysler Financial by December.

Just 36% of dealers have a return on sales greater than 1.5%; they expect this to increase to 60% by 2014. Dealer support is being expanded to include financial skills. Planned growth of commercial vehicle sales will require overcoming strong competition and changing service hours to meet business owners’ needs. In general, dealers need to overcome problems of high land cost, and customer convenience (old or suboptimal locations).

A green facility initiative is planned to both increase environmental friendliness, and to cut costs.

Since June 10, dealers have committed over $250 million in capital investment, with 20 new buildings, 200 major renovations.