Fiat, Lucas

[Matthew Killick <m.killick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Luke says:

>74 Spider, 82 GTV6 3.0s, 95 164LS, + one incoming surprise for the wife
>(would have been a 156, but noooh, Fiat cannot be bothered...!!!!)

I don't believe that Fiat cannot be bothered.  On the contrary, I think
that they would very much like to export their cars to the USA.  The
problem is that the US market appears (to me) to divide into about three
categories: small (cheap), big (domestic) and niche (German, quality;
Swedish, safety).  Where do Fiat place their cars in this scheme?  

Over the past month a number of contributors have posted a variety of crude
smears aimed at Lucas in particular and the British in general.  Substitute
Fiat/Alfa/Italian cars for Lucas, and you have an indication of the depth
of prejudice needed to be overcome by Fiat.  If they were to return, all
that would be required is for someone to break a finger nail operating the
cup holder and Fiat would be in court defending a million dollar law suit.
The press would beat it up, and the self fulfilling prophesy that Italian
cars are crap would be confirmed.  It's a high risk for a market that is
never going to take enough cars to be really profitable.

On a related note, Car magazine has just run a series of articles on
importing grey market cars to the UK from other EC countries and Japan.
Basically, you buy the car, ship it in, pass inspection, pay the taxes,
insurance and licence fee and it's yours to drive.  You may have to take
the ferry to France/Belgium/ Ireland and buy some fuel to prove that you've
owned and driven it abroad, but otherwise that's it.  Perhaps instead of
railing against Fiat, citizens of the Land of the Free who want a new
spider or 156 should ponder why it is they need to be protected, what they
need protection from and just who it is who benefits from such a heavily
protected market.

Cheers
Mat

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