I read today that PSA, the Peugeot and Citroen parent, is considering exporting the upscale DS brand to the USA. I’m sure you have opinions on this! Here’s a quick article from Car and Driver about it:
Hey, look on the bright side: You can now own a DS3 and act like you’re a World Rally Championship driver. Perfect for a midlife crisis!
Of course they are aware that there is no dealer network. That kept them from exporting Peugeots here about 10 years ago. The markets for the DS3, DS4, and DS5 are quite competitive already. It will be interesting to see if they really do start up here again. Maybe they can partner with a well represented brand to get instant showrooms and service networks.
I don’t see anything remarkable about any of the 3 DS cars. But the DS3 runs the World Rally Championship circuit. Racing is enough of positive advertising that many auto companies sponsor teams.
"Uuhh snapping up those little Fiats?? I thought sales on those things had been continually disappointing for FCA. Tongue in cheek perhaps?"
Yes, probably tongue-in-cheek.
While I do see the occasional Fiat in my neck of the woods, they are definitely outnumbered by new Porsches, Maseratis, and Teslas, just to name a few much more expensive marques.
Heck, I even tend to see newer Bentleys more often than I see Fiat 500s!
And PSA may come to that same conclusion, @texases. As I mentioned above, they decided not to bring the Peugeot here a decade or more back. Articles like the one referenced can help PSA decide if the USA is a viable market. North America and Southeast Asia are the two areas that they do no business at this time. It makes sense for the management to look at new markets once in a while. I know that I’m not interested in the DS line, and it looks like the posters above aren’t either.
In my neck of the woods . . . Los Angeles . . . they did a brisk business selling Fiat 500s
So my comment was not meant to be tongue-in-cheek
I see far more Fiat 500s, versus newer Bentleys
I read the article, and see that the numbers are way down
But that doesn’t change the fact that those little cars were very popular for awhile. When I see one of them, I have no idea if it was sold yesterday, or last year
Saw one of those from the 40’s or so on the freeway. He was going about 55 trying to keep it on the road. Not much for looks but I guess they were an OK car. Jay Leno has one of the newer ones I guess that had many safety features like swivel headlights. Maybe a Fiat/Chrysler/Citroen merger would make more sense.
A look at Fiat 500 sales figures showed an increase from 2012 to 2013. There was a dropoff in sales in 2014 and up to this point in 2015 an even bigger dropoff in sales.
There’s a stand alone Fiat dealer near where my daughter lives and they have hundreds of them on the lot. It’s difficult for me to see stand alone Fiat dealers surviving especially when your yearly sales totals are sub 40 thousand nationally.
Lord only knows what kind of hosing the mechanics in the service departments are being subjected to…
I can see where Fiat 500’s would be hot sellers in certain markets. Didn’t seem to catch on at all across the country. When a dealer opened in Columbus Ohio, when I still lived in Ohio, every car on the lot was an automatic and priced in the high $20K’s or low $30K’s. I just had to laugh at that price. There are a great many cars I’d rather drive at that price than a Fiat 500. Apparently, I wasn’t alone. I see a few in Florida but not very many.
PSA make very nice cars! Last summer we rented one in France for 3 weeks, It was a diesel sedan about the size of a Ford Fusion. Very quiet, easy of fuel, no smell, and it had those nice swing-away mirrors for parking in tight spots.
However, I would be reluctant to own one here as past service was rather skimpy when they were sold here, mostly as Peugeots.
Does anyone recall this old saying:
“Timing is everything”
This comes to mind because a large highway dealership in my area recently (finally) removed the Peugeot sign from their stack of manufacturer signs that are displayed on a huge stanchion adjacent to the road.
The Fiat 500 is not selling here because of the price. Few Americans are willing to pay a premium for cute. There are less expensive cars that are roomier with the same or better mileage.
"The Fiat 500 is not selling here because of the price. Few Americans are willing to pay a premium for cute. There are less expensive cars that are roomier with the same or better mileage."
…and with better frequency of repair ratings.
I kept an open mind when Fiat returned to the US marketplace because it was certainly possible that their quality had improved over the years. However, the frequency of repair ratings in CR indicate that Fiat is still close to the bottom of the pack when it comes to reliability.
I agree with @Docnick’s assessment of PSA vehicles. We went to Amsterdam and Northern Germany in 2003. We had a Citroen Boxer as a rental. Ours was a 9 passenger van with manual transmission. I was the only driver because no one else could drive a stick. Everyone found it comfortable and the handling wasn’t bad for a big box. It even had plenty of room behind the last row of seats for our luggage. If they offered it her and I was in the market for a van, I would definitely consider it.
A childhood friend’s brother had a Fiat 500 in the early 1970s. He drove it from suburban DC to Baltimore for college and eventually medical school. The car had canvas seats and couldn’t go faster than 50 as I recall. He never rode up I-95, but took US-1 instead because the speed limit was much lower. The best thing about it was he bought it for a couple hundred bucks.
For those who did not get to see The Holy Father’s arrival in DC this afternoon, it was noteworthy for many reasons.
Among the reasons was his choice of a black Fiat 500L (the “big” 4 door Fiat) instead of a limousine for his ride to his temporary DC residence. No, I am not kidding!
Apparently, he has sold the Vatican’s Mercedes limo and chooses to ride most of the time in Rome in a blue Ford Fiesta, but for this occasion he rode in the black Fiat.
