Sierra Fiat of Duarte Grand Opening, March 22

Bringing New Jobs and Sales Tax to City

DUARTE, CA, March 22, 2012 – The brand new Sierra Fiat of Duarte on the City’s 210 freeway corridor auto row celebrated its grand opening on Thursday, March 22nd with a Duarte, Monrovia, and Arcadia tri-Chamber ribbon cutting ceremony beginning at 12 noon. The event kicked off a weekend-long of grand opening festivities to welcome the public offering food, refreshments and entertainment Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12 noon to 3 p.m.

The new Duarte Fiat Studio is located at 1125 Central Ave.

General Manager David Di Giuseppe, a 30-year career veteran with Sierra Autocars, was most recently vice president of customer relations for Sierra Autocars Lincoln-Mercury in Monrovia. He leads an initial sales and service team of 12 to 15 employees including sales manager David Handley.

The Duarte Fiat Studio is stocked with all three models of the Fiat 500 series – the Pop, Sport, and Lounge – in a variety of colors and feature packages. Prices range from $16,000 for the basic Pop to $23,000 for the Lounge. Di Giuseppe said he expects to receive his first shipment of Fiat’s latest addition to the 500 series, the Abarth within four to six weeks. The Italian designed Fiat 500s have a multi-international pedigree with an award-winning engine built in the United States, transmission built in Japan, and manufactured in Mexico.

The 2.1 acre site will undergo a $750,000 façade renovation and upgraded freeway signage within the first 18 months. Fiat Studio has planned two-phases to the remodel. The first phase, now completed, includes an interior remodel of the showroom, restrooms, and offices and exterior painting of the building. The showroom features a state-of-the-art computer counter display and big screen electronically updated with the latest on Fiat developments. Customers can relax and enjoy refreshments in the Fiat Studio’s mini café.  The second phase of the remodel, to coincide with the introduction of the Alfa Romeo brand in about one year, will include a complete exterior façade renovation. #