To the Editor:
This is a lightly edited version of a letter the writer also sent to Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler.
After reading several articles on the Fiat 500, including Automotive News' "A bumpy road for Fiat 500" (Nov. 21), I feel like saying "I told you so." Maybe that's harsh, but I think it's direct and true.
Asking dealers to bet on a new and untested brand with one small car in a down market seemed from the beginning to mean dealers would at the very least struggle and possibly be doomed to fail.
I and every dealer I talked to feel as though we were promised a variant of the 500 before Fiat took over. That never happened, and we (Chrysler dealers) are still waiting on a small car. Let smaller-market dealers sell the 500, and let's move this company forward. This may be too late, but I think it should have been done from the beginning.
The rest of Chrysler Group is the Golden Child in the media right now, and it is sure nice after the beating we all took the past few years. Let's find a way not to let the 500 take our eye off the ball. Thanks for the leadership thus far.
