Fiat Set To Slash Prices On 2017 Models As Part Of New Pricing Structure

Locally, the stand-alone Fiat dealer morphed into the Alfa Romeo/Maserati dealer and Fiats are now across the street at the Chrysler/Jeep dealer.

Fiat is clearly a dying brand.

The Alfa/Maserati dealer is comical because it was designed to sell Fiats and most decidedly is not upscale.

I really have to wonder when Sergio is going to spit out the American arm of FCA.

Not sure that slashing prices is going to help. Clearly, America doesn't like the underpowered little car with the mouse whiskers face. Making it a cheaper dud isn't the answer. Just my opinion ...

Indeed. The 500 isn't cool like a Mini and as a small hatchback, there are others at that price point that are much better.

Not as cool as the Mini but cool nonetheless so I hope it doesn't go away. I think Fiat just needs to lower its expectations re. sales and start selling Alfas pronto.

On a separate note: Is anybody else having login problems also? The link on the top the page rarely works

Maybe because their cars are ugly....

Perhaps FCA should tinker with the pricing structure of Maserati's as well? I'm not sure if a 15% price reduction and re-alignment of trim levels would do anything to juice sales, but I'd say that Maserati is headed in a similar direction to Fiat.

Maseratis transact nowhere near list price and a 20% discount can be easily had on current model year cars and I've been told of as high as 40% on previous model year cars to clear stock.

Sergio was foolish to relaunch Maserati AND Alfa Romeo into the same premium segment. The Giulia should have been a Maserati.

Alfa Romeo should have been an Italian "Subaru" placed between entry level (Chrysler) and premium (Maserati).

The Dart and 200 should have both been Chryslers. It's unfortunate that they were rushed to market before engineering could make them "right". Imagine both with AWD and a fire-breathing turbo engine as Alfa Romeos.

The 500X should have been an Alfa Romeo.

Well Maserati's need to be priced higher than Alfa's. I'm just not sure if Maserati's were meant to be high volume vehicles. That's not been their history. I can see them competing with mid range to high end BMW's. The problem is that they need to use more Ferrari hardware both inside and out to justify their higher prices. When you raid the Chrysler Jeep parts bin your just going to cheapen Maserati. Therefore the 20% discounts are justified in that case. I disagree with Alfa being an Italian Subaru. The have already tried this with the Mito and Giulietta. Against a VW Golf and Polo as well as Renualt, Honda etc. these FWD Alfa's are not competing well at all. One reason is that they are using Fiat parts. An Alfa has to be a better car to sit in and to drive than a Fiat plain and simple. Originally in the 60's Alfa did directly compete with BMW. So I think the Giulia makes sense and also makes sense using it's platform to go smaller and larger as well as creating SUV/CUV's out of it. As it stands it has a very good chassis.
Look if Alfa can make a smaller SUV than the Stelvio to compete with the BMW X1 why not. Why not make a smaller RWD hatch to compete with the 2 series BMW coupe. A 500X is nothing more than a stretched Giulieta platform that is related to the Dodge Dart and Chrysler 200.
That's not an Alfa Romeo. The Dart failed because it came out with the Fiat Abarth engine as well as that stupid dual clutch tranny. It was too heavy for its engine. By the time they put the 2.4 tiger shark motor in it its time was already gone. The 2.4 should have been the engine from the get go. As for the 200 FCA made a classic mistake. They simply made the rear seating compartment too small. Why they just didn't take a measurement of a Honda Accord and VW Passat rear passenger compartment and do their design around it we will never know.
The car was doomed. And then remember the problems with the 9 speed auto tranny with its software issues. Darringers right about rushing these vehicles to market. They weren't ready. But also the market has radically changed away from sedans in the past couple of years. I would venture to say that in 5 years you may not even have an Accord or Camry sedan and perhaps no Corolla either. As for Fiat I think they should make a lowered down FWD hatch based on the 500X and it should replace the little 500 for America. I also think there should be a Fiat version of the new Jeep Compass to replace the 500L.

This is patently false: "I would venture to say that in 5 years you may not even have an Accord or Camry sedan and perhaps no Corolla either." Sedans will still be very much a part of the mix in 5 years, but some of their volume will shift to crossover versions which are essentially those sedans with a different hat.

Also, you need to brush up on your Maserati history. The brand has produced a lot of second-rate garbage over the years: Bora, Merak, and Biturbo. Thus, Maserati was completely configurable for its market placement and the correct placement was BMW/Mercedes not high end.

You scoffed also at placing Alfa as an Italian "Subaru" brand between Fiat/Chrysler and Maserati saying that "it didn't work" and on the heels of that you point to incompetent engineering. The incompetent engineering is what failed NOT the concept of Alfa being an attainable near-premium brand.