Tiny Italian cars will soon be speeding around Richmond.
Two local car dealers — Whitten Brothers and Pearson — were awarded Fiat franchises yesterday. They are among a group of 130 chosen to sell the Italian cars in the United States. Fiats were last sold in the United States in the early 1980s.
The dealerships will be building new showrooms and hiring new salespeople.
And there’s already interest from locals.
“We’ve already got deposits on some,” said Bobby Whitten, co-owner of what will be the new Fiat of South Richmond. “One guy wants the very first one in Richmond. So he’ll get it.”
Whitten and his brother Jimmy, who also own Whitten Brothers of Ashland Jeep Chrysler Dodge, are working toward building out the new Fiat location. They hope to open by early next year and plan to hire about 10 workers for the Fiat store.
“It’s a cool little car,” Whitten said. “I think it will be a big winner in this city. I’m glad Chrysler chose Richmond.”
Fiat of North Richmond will be owned by James Pearson, who is also the owner of Pearson Chrylser Jeep Dodge.
The Fiat 500 will be the first model sold, but a full line is expected, Whitten said.
Chrysler initially invited 250 dealers to apply for the separate Fiat franchises. From that, 130 were chosen based on their location and business plans.
Whitten said his plan calls for a buildout of what used to be furniture store next to the Whitten Midlothian dealership. Chrysler and Fiat gave each franchise specs on how the Fiat locations should look in order to help create the brand.
“The design of the building is completely different than what we’re used to,” Whitten said. “They are very specific, down to the color of the paint, the wallpaper and the type of furniture. They are coming in with what they want to be the Fiat experience.”
The Whitten Brothers are in the midst of looking for a builder and hope to open by February.
Whitten said Fiat of South Richmond will hire 10 employees initially.
The dealer will likely start out with 40 or 50 of the new Fiats, although Whitten said Chrysler has not disclosed the cost of the vehicles to the dealers or the price they can charge.
“They have not given a price other than saying it’s going to be competitive,” Whitten said. That likely means the price for the Fiat 500 will be under $20,000, he said. Several news outlets are reporting that the 500 will be priced at about $15,000.
Six Fiat franchises were awarded in Virginia locales: Newport News, Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Sterling and the two locally.
Bill Bittle, the general manager of Pearson, did not return a call by press time.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Tiny Italian cars will soon be speeding around Richmond.
Two local car dealers — Whitten Brothers and Pearson — were awarded Fiat franchises yesterday. They are among a group of 130 chosen to sell the Italian cars in the United States. Fiats were last sold in the United States in the early 1980s.
The dealerships will be building new showrooms and hiring new salespeople.
And there’s already interest from locals.
“We’ve already got deposits on some,” said Bobby Whitten, co-owner of what will be the new Fiat of South Richmond. “One guy wants the very first one in Richmond. So he’ll get it.”
Whitten and his brother Jimmy, who also own Whitten Brothers of Ashland Jeep Chrysler Dodge, are working toward building out the new Fiat location. They hope to open by early next year and plan to hire about 10 workers for the Fiat store.
“It’s a cool little car,” Whitten said. “I think it will be a big winner in this city. I’m glad Chrysler chose Richmond.”
Fiat of North Richmond will be owned by James Pearson, who is also the owner of Pearson Chrylser Jeep Dodge.
The Fiat 500 will be the first model sold, but a full line is expected, Whitten said.
Chrysler initially invited 250 dealers to apply for the separate Fiat franchises. From that, 130 were chosen based on their location and business plans.
Whitten said his plan calls for a buildout of what used to be furniture store next to the Whitten Midlothian dealership. Chrysler and Fiat gave each franchise specs on how the Fiat locations should look in order to help create the brand.
“The design of the building is completely different than what we’re used to,” Whitten said. “They are very specific, down to the color of the paint, the wallpaper and the type of furniture. They are coming in with what they want to be the Fiat experience.”
The Whitten Brothers are in the midst of looking for a builder and hope to open by February.
Whitten said Fiat of South Richmond will hire 10 employees initially.
The dealer will likely start out with 40 or 50 of the new Fiats, although Whitten said Chrysler has not disclosed the cost of the vehicles to the dealers or the price they can charge.
“They have not given a price other than saying it’s going to be competitive,” Whitten said. That likely means the price for the Fiat 500 will be under $20,000, he said. Several news outlets are reporting that the 500 will be priced at about $15,000.
Six Fiat franchises were awarded in Virginia locales: Newport News, Norfolk, Fredericksburg, Sterling and the two locally.
Bill Bittle, the general manager of Pearson, did not return a call by press time.
Michael Schwartz is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to [email protected].