Marchionne Changes Tune on U.S. Fiat Dealers Getting Alfa 4C

When Harald Wester, boss of Fiat’s Alfa Romeo and Maserati units told reporters in September that the new Alfa 4C mid-engine sports car would likely be sold in the U.S. through Maserati’s 68-strong dealer network alone instead of Fiat’s 210 showrooms as well as originally suggested, he dealt a strong blow to the latter, even though they had never received a letter of intent or an outright promise from Chrysler.

Now, Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has come out to address these concerns by saying the plan is “the best performing Fiat dealers will be the ones that will be entitled to have a crack at Alfa Romeo distribution,” according to an Autonews report.

The issue at hand isn’t as much about the 4C itself, of which only about 1,000 units are earmarked for the States, as it is for future products of Alfa and their distribution rights in the country.

For now, Fiat’s U.S. dealers will have to make ends meet with whatever products they have.

“Even if we get Alfa tomorrow, we’re not going to get any volume for at least two years,” Gary Brown, chairman of the Chrysler National Dealer Council and a Fiat dealer on Long Island told Autonews. “Our game plan as Fiat dealers is to figure out how to make due with the product that we have and hopefully, there will be more Fiat product on the way in the next few years.”

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