by John Montgomery, FLU President
June 2008
Drive It… Like You Own It
Remember the Motel 6 ad line; “We’ll leave the light on for you?” I’m sure that many of us FLUsters like to think that we have done our part to carry the torch for Fiat and Lancia automobiles in North America. The Fiat and Lancia name continues to ride with us and favorably impact its legacy. We have represented the marque well for over a quarter century. Every year passes and we keep showing up at events with better and better cars, changing the paradigm of perception for the public everywhere we go. Yes, we’ve been keeping the light on through the darkness for all these years, and now a bright new day is dawning for the Fiat in North America.
The Fiat 500 is coming, the 500 is coming!
Yes friends, the hottest car on the planet will be at Fiat Freak Out. FLU and NIIMC (http://www.niimc.net./) member Jim Magill is sending his personal copy of Fiat’s bright and shining star across the pond all the way from Ireland to the New Jersey shore. Jim has already shipped the car from Belfast and it was sponsored in part by his fund raising effort for Northern Ireland Hospice Care (www.justgiving.com/fiat500) It will arrive several weeks before our 25th anniversary FFO08 in the Poconos July 11 to 13th. The 500 will be driven to a number of media and publicity sites where all the automotive scribes can get some good press copy for this fantastic new Fiat. The club is going to be instrumental helping to get this car the coverage it deserves here in America.
Why get so excited about a Fiat 500 coming to the USA, even if it is the run away winner of the European Car of the Year Award? The new Fiat 500 is a breakthrough car that follows in the footsteps of the iconic original Fiat 500. The 500 put Italy on wheels after World War II, and it could be that the new 500 has that combination of quality, style, performance and mileage to put Fiat on wheels again here in America as our current gas war rages.
Take note of what I am about to say because you can check back in a few years and see it was right:
The 500 is not only the hinge point of Fiat’s return to the North America, but the point of the spear. You have my word, Fiat is coming back here.
That’s a bold statement, but truth is that the government’s “Green friendly” policies combined with North American demographic population shifts are setting the stage for Fiat’s return to America.
Let’s take a look at the current domestic market conditions. A gallon of gasoline in the United States now costs over $4. It’s only going to go higher until we start drilling for oil in our own backyard and utilizing our domestic resources. We have not built a single fuel refinery or Nuclear power plant in 30 years, so we find ourselves at the mercy of world market energy prices. Government regulations driven by environmental lobbyists are doing their part to make the public feel guilty about destroying the planet with our big cars and wasteful self directed lifestyles.
Congress just finished grilling oil company executives about excess profits, yet the oil execs and Americans alike should be grilling congress for their failure to develop our own domestic energy sources. For example, our Chi-Flu brethren in Illinois pay 10 layers of taxes on the fuel they buy, making a gallon of gas in Chicago among the most expensive benzina on the continent. Senator Dick Durbin and Barack Hussian Obama of Illinois helped make it all possible. Just goes to show you, if you are happy with the cost of your next fill-up, thank a legislator and their environmentalist friends.
The deepening global warming hoax means that America will suffer even more intrusive legislation and even higher fuel prices. Smaller, fuel efficient cars will clearly be a given in our future. Hmmm. Fiat makes a lot of smaller, fuel efficient cars.
Our uncontrolled border is bringing thousands of newcomers to America each month. Many are already familiar with the Fiat brand. Visit any Wal-Mart or public park and you’ll find quite a number of people from countries that have already accepted Fiat as a mainstream automotive brand. Did you know that Fiat has been selling cars in Mexico for the last three years? Certainly if Fiats were offered here in North America the brand name would be rather familiar to many.
Over in Italy, Fiat’s bold leadership from Sergio Marchionne has boosted sales in just about every other part of the world in the face of a softening economy. Dealer showrooms have a fast moving lineup of high mileage, stylish and environmentally friendly cars. While Fiat engineers are back at the home office putting International award plaques like “European Car of the Year” on the walls, Fiat accountants are busy counting the incoming lira that comes in when you build the right cars at the right time.
Maserati has returned successfully to North America for a few years now, and Alfa-Romeo is will be back in 2009. Lancia has even returned to the UK after 14 years in exile with the introduction of the new Delta model. Guess what? Lancias are being sold at Alfa dealerships, indicating a trend that could be copied with the Fiat brand here in North America. Alfa only made 165,000 cars last year, and just like we are seeing in England with Lancia, Alfa will need more volume to make the profit equation work.
Maserati, Lancia and Alfa here mean that the development of a viable parts and service network is already in motion. Fiat owns an idle New Holland tractor plant here in the states that could even be refitted to build cars. Last but not least, it’s now a much smaller technological step to comply with stricter USA crash and exhaust emissions than it was 20 years ago. The stars are lining up friends, and Fiat is in the right place and time to retake the North American market. Mark my word, OK?
Fiat Freak Out will be here before you know it. Have you booked a room? Have you registered? Do it today! The entire FLU family will be there; the media, vendors, the beloved cars, Jim and Alan from Ireland with the 500 and a whole lot more. Don’t miss it. Bring your car and your shining light to this silver anniversary reunion. It is going to be great! Fiat Freak Out 2008 is your personal opportunity to watch the new day dawn for Fiat in North America. Yes, keeping that light on for 25 years is about to pay off!
Be there. We’ll make history.
John Montgomery
FLU President
-Written by John Montgomery, President, Fiat Lancia Unlimited