Fiat dealerships are going to get their furnishings from home goods retailer Ikea. According to a report in Automotive News Europe (ANE), a deal has been closed between Fiat and Ikea that will save dealers 20 to 40% on furniture compared with Fiat’s previous showroom standards. This pact will also include Lancia.
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“Pragmatically, it is useless to impose expensive corporate standards on volume brand dealers, because they tend not to implement them,” said Luca De Meo, Fiat brand director.
“It was time to understand that excessive dealer standards mean very little for the customers, but they boost fixed costs for dealers,” said Piero Mocarelli, president of Car World Italia, one of Italy’s biggest car dealerships that also stocks Fiat and Lancia. Mocarelli wants Fiat Auto subsidiary Lancia to adopt the same requirements for showrooms.
“Lancia set new dealers standards four years ago and [now wants] a complete revamp of showrooms by the end of the year, with furniture requirements that are far more premium than the brand’s recognized market position.”
