Fiat to re-enter China, no Shanghai, Nanjing dealers

Ten months After cutting its cooperation with Nanjing Auto, Italian carmaker Fiat is set to restart its China sales network with the imported models first, according to Oriental Morning Post today.

Fiat (China) said the company launched the imported Linea and Bravo models into the Chinese market first last night. However, the dealership list released by Fiat didn’t include any dealers in one of the most important cities — Shanghai.

Current Fiat dealers for imported cars are mostly from the previous Nanjing Fiat network. But most of the former Fiat dealers had shifted to other businesses due to longtime money losing before Fiat withdrew from its Nanjing venture at the end of last year, including two original Fiat Shanghai dealers.

Also, Fiat lacks dealerships in Nanjing, where the Fiat brand already has some influence. The dealer list by Fiat shows that nearly 30% Fiat dealers are located in medium- and small-size cities.

Whether it can build a highly efficient sales network poses a big challenge for Fiat to regain its business in China, a source said.