Motor Age : Will the new shop models Magneti Marelli brings to the U.S. be the same as its European Checkstar brand?
Maggioni: The model we will use and the experience we will bring will merge together with the experience that Mopar already has to create the Magneti Marelli Checkstar. (As of now they will not bring the logo and name.) All of the experience we have here make us the best repair shop in Italy. We're the best, because the customers said that. It was through interviews, them visiting Checkstar and then saying, "Yes, I would come back, because they are nice and they are good and they have a quality service and good products." This experience is from training, technical assistance and call centers. All the experience we have developed in other markets like Italy makes us very successful here, and we will have that in the U.S. We have ideas to communicate to (consumers) quality and the width of the range (of parts) we make available. Also, service: The distribution of Mopar is really very good. They've increased at their shops their opening hours. Some ideas (at the shops)have already been used here in Europe and tested in the past, and some of course will be typically American.Motor Age : Will Magneti Marelli expand beyond distributing parts through Mopar in the U.S.?
Maggioni: We will go through Mopar dealers first. That is our priority. In any case if we can have more reach, more capitalization in the market, we will do it in agreement with them. It's a common target between us and Mopar to reach big numbers. But we will do it in a reasonable way and proper way in the marketplace.
Motor Age : How does Magneti Marelli compare to other products some OEMs offer in the U.S.?
Maggioni: We have launched (the products in the U.S.) and are adding new part numbers. Magneti Marelli is value added as compared to Ford Motorcraft or ACDelco. These are similar, but there is not the component make behind (them) as with Magneti Marelli.
