Jennifer Lopez is welcome when Zeigler Auto Group brings Fiat dealership to town

Courtesy photoThe Zeigler Auto Group plans to sell the sexy Fiat 500 from a dealership in Grandville

GRANDVILLE, MI When the Zeigler Auto Group opens its new Fiat dealership this fall, they would be thrilled if American Idol star Jennifer Lopez shows up in one of the Fiat 500 she pitches on television.

They may not be as welcoming for Charlie Sheen, the television bad boy who pitches the sporty Abarth version of the Fiat 500, said Dan Scheid, chief financial officer for the Kalamazoo-based new car dealer.

Well take a pass on Charlie Sheen, but wed love to have Jennifer Lopez, Scheid said with a laugh.

The Zeigler Auto Group is planning to build outstate Michigans first Fiat dealership just west of its Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership on Parkway Place Drive SW.

The franchise will be one of four Fiat outlets in Michigan, Scheid said. Its not a high-volume product and Fiat has to be very strategic about where to put its products.

Once the Fiat brand is established, the Italian carmakers plans to include its upscale Alfa Romeo line in its U.S. dealership network, Scheid said. They are hoping that launch will occur in 2013, he said.

Grandvilles City Planning Commission signed off on Zeiglers plans last week and the full City Commission is expected to consider their plans early next month, Scheid said.

After purchasing a stake in Chrysler in 2009, Fiat is returning to the U.S. market after a 28-year absence. The new Fiat 500 capitalizes on the small car phenomenon that began with BMWs re-design of the Austin Mini in 2001.

Fiat sales are starting to accelerate after a slow start in the U.S. market last year. Last month, the company said sales were up 128 percent to 4,003 units, marking a fourth-consecutive month for record sa! les of t he Fiat 500.

Scheid said the Zeigler Auto Groups dealership in the Chicago suburb of Schaumberg, Ill., began selling Fiats last year and has made them available for its customers in Michigan.

E-mail Jim Harger: jharger@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/JHHarger