Fiat May Miss 500’s North America Sales Target in 2011 Due to Delays in Store Openings

Fiat’s 500 sales in North America will likely fall short of the initial target of 50,000 units in 2011, because of the delays in opening new stores. Currently, the brand has opened 100 out of the 130 stores planned for the US this year.

The Italian company chose to open new stores instead of using the existing Chrysler dealer network, in order to differentiate its niche product. However, the original plan, which called for most delaers to be operational by February, failed since at that time only about a dozen were ready.

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