Fiat has an ‘awareness problem’

Fiat has ended its tie-up with a couple of its ad agencies a few weeks into the launch of its first national TV campaign in the U.S., putting a strain on its goal to raise brand awareness in the U.S. Fiat said last week that it is terminating its relationship with its main advertising agency, Impatto Custom
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mini22 - 9/28/2011 1:59:20 PM

0 Boost

Fiat has sold almost 12,000 cars in 6 months. This is with not having all its dealerships open. Fiat in essence is a brand new brand to the US market. To hope for 40,000 sales for it's first yr is a bit pie in the sky. Remember Mini had no competition when it entered the market in 2002. Further Texas,which is a bit of a Red Neck state seems to be the 500's biggest market. I don't consider Fiat's sales that much of an awareness problem when you factor in there is still no Abarth version,there is still no larger 4dr, and there is no AWD Countryman competator yet.I think Fiat needs to take a breath.

Willis - 9/28/2011 2:00:09 PM

+1 Boost

I think the biggest problem the Fiat 500 has is its price. Most Americans have no real concept of a lifestyle car preferring instead to compare this car in terms of price and value to cheaper and bigger alternatives.

We all see it happening here! The Fiat 500 is compared to say a Honda Fit and the value marks speak for the Honda. Ok, so the Honda is better value. But is it more fun? Does it look as good as the Fiat 500? Moreover, does it have the heritage and cult status of the Fiat 500 that makes the car so special? No, it does not.

Over in Europe, a Fiat 500 is also more expensive than some bigger and more practical cars, but someone looking for a lifestyle car is willing to pay for the design, the heritage and cult status of this car and that's what sells the 500, not value or practicality. It's the "got to have" factor.

Look no further than the New Beetle and New MINI Cooper. They're "overpriced" for what you get, but people are gobbing them up like there's no tomorrow because they know of the ORIGINAL Beetle/MINI Cooper. I guess most Americans don't really know anything about the original Fiat 500 and how it mobilized Italy, so yes, an image problem is also involved.

uaw_lax - 9/28/2011 5:25:35 PM

0 Boost

never thought of it those terms.

1c3am5 - 9/28/2011 2:16:44 PM

0 Boost

Agree with both of the above comments.

Also went to High School with Laura Soave (for reals!) but I have no memory of her. Yearbook says she ran the school store, so we know she has some retail experience.

PLAY - 9/28/2011 4:36:36 PM

+2 Boost

The price is too high. I could get a Mazda3, Focus, Fiesta, Versa, Accent, Civic, Corolla, Yaris, Jetta, etc... for similar prices. Why choose Fiat? That is Fiat's problem. If they could be more competitive on price, they would be selling much better.