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Be it ever so humble…
In a matter of days Olathe Dodge will add Fiat of Olathe and become Kansas City’s exclusive area Fiat car dealer. And in mere days, it will get its first demo in – a spanking new 2012 Fiat 500. Meanwhile, the game is afoot on designing and morphing its used car office building in a snazzy, new Fiat Studio.
"What’s funny is we are starting on the building February 1st," says general manager Jeff Briggs. "But I will have a new Fiat 500 here in the next few days for people to look at and test drive."
The official launch for Fiat North America’s new 500 goes down Feb. 8 to 10 in Los Angeles, Briggs says.
The model locals can expect to see and test drive when Fiat of Olathe gets its first car?
"I’m going to be getting a Sport model," Briggs says. "The vehicle will not be for sale, but they will be sending a window sticker with it so customers can see how much it costs."
The Fiat Studio makeover should take – weather permitting – around three weeks, Briggs says. It won’t be cheap either. Fiat is requiring dealers to follow an upscale, hip, modern Italian design.
Briggs can’t wait to roll out the 500s in the new digs.
"We’re actually doing $330,000 worth of work," Briggs says. "To Fiat specs – they want it nice – and they want a reputation for quality and hipness, too."
"Ordering a Fiat 500 will be a customer controlled process," he stresses. "They come in and tell us what they want instead of us telling the consumer what we want them to have."
Briggs expects to be able to carry other Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars in the coming months.
"We’ll be getting Alfa Romeos by the end of 2013," Briggs says.
Meanwhile, back in the present day…
"The good thing about the Fiat 500 is the quality," Briggs says. "The fit and finish on these new 500s is excellent – they’re gorgeous. I mean, these cars are absolutely beautiful."
ETA on Fiat of Olathe being full-time up and running?
"The initial plan is for us to open in March," Briggs says. "We might be a little optimistic."
The odds of Kansas City getting more than one Fiat dealership? In a word, slim.
"I was told that Kansas City’s not going to see any other dealers for awhile," Briggs says.
Jr.:
Thanks for the latest Fiat commercial.
Way down below the ocean
and when the day ends,
and this life is over
and all the building I built have crumbled
and everyone i know is dead
and there are no books to tell the tale
and electronic media is edited and redited
and history suits those currently in power…and…..
and you will find me…. Way down below the ocean where I wanna be, she may be
down beneath the ocean, underneath the waves, looking for my lost love, look to satisfy me, finally
Let’s see, one of the world’s largest automakers rides to the rescue of one of the USA’s Big 3, returns a legendary brand to this market, nobody else has reported it and you think it’s a commercial?
Fix It Again,Tony
Fiat…wow….Italian junk.
Nobody seems to have any memory of when we used to have these little turds sitting hopelessly in repair shops all over town. Dealers wouldn’t even let you trade ’em in. With perfect maintenance, they last about two years, and then it’s off to the crusher.
Honda and Toyota dealers must be laughing their butts off at the thought of this Eurotrash brand hitting the USA. This is nothing more than the Yugo with spaghetti sauce.
A lot has changed in the last 28 years…
This Fiat isn’t even made in Italy. The engine is made in Detroit and the car is being assembled at a state-of-the-art new factory in Mexico. The 500 has won numerous international awards and sold 500,000 cars worldwide since its debut in 2007. Nice metaphor, but no Yugos here.
CALL…NOW….!!!
I read where the first ones to the US will be standard shift, and the factory is still looking for dealers. I want to nominate that pear-shaped skunk from Continental Siding who is always on TV, with that bullshit huckster, “Call…Now !!! ” schtick.
He would make a perfect Fiat dealer.