Fiat Chrysler Automobiles To Open 400 Stores To U.S. Dealer Network

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is preparing to include 400 stores to its U.S. dealership network in a bid to recover market share.

As per the sources that spoke to Automotive News, the nationwide growth is currently underway in particular regions of the nation, with construction being performed on new Chrysler-Jeep-Dodge-Ram storefronts in markets with high automobile sales such as Houston.

Regardless of showing strong worldwide profits in last year, FCA’s U.S. market share dropped 11.3 percent year-over-year in the 4th quarter of last year. Its plan to strongly expand its traditional footprint should assist it take on competitors such as General Motors and Ford Motor, which provide more recent, more detailed model lineups, but one dealer that spoke to AN said FCA was “about five years too late,” with its execution.

FCA dealers have struggled in the middle of the car manufacturer’s slipping market share, which can be at least partially wrote down to a variety of recalls and a scandal in which FCA confessed to misreporting its yearly sales figures to support a claimed 75-month successive sales record. The automaker’s image took another hit previously this month when the EPA came out and alleged it of using a cheat gadget on its 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 engine. FCA rejected these allegations and CEO Sergio Marchionne wants to deal with the matter with the EPA.