Re: New Alfa Sales

[Godfrey DiGiorgi <ramarren@domain.elided>]

I was speaking from a point of view of not just ARA membership. The 
original post ("SF Alfa Heaven" or something like that) was referring to 
the very large numbers of Alfas sighted here in the Monterey to SF 
neighborhood. I've been told by many that at one time, Texas 
(Houston/Dallas areas), San Francisco and Los Angeles represented a 
disproportionately large percentage of Alfa Romeo sales in the US. 

With an aggressive marketing campaign, an emphasis on reliability, and a 
solid service network, Alfa Romeo could be every bit the success that BMW 
or Volvo are. The 164 is a far nicer car to drive than the comparably 
priced european sedans. The problem as I perceive it is that they didn't 
invest the money into marketing and support that was warranted. I just 
don't recall ever seeing 1/100 the advertisements for the 164 that one 
averages for a Mercedes, a Lexus, a Ford, a BMW. 

Godfrey

>With regard to Godfrey's comment about Alfa prices and whether they
>would sell here, note that the original comment was about whether or not
>CLUB MEMBERS (ARA) would be partly responsible for enough interest
>generated to warrent bringing the Alfa to our shores again.
>
>>>That's easily within the price range of most of
>>>the people I know who are looking for something beyond the economy line
>>>car these days. Remember that a Mazda Miata averages somewhere around
>>>$25-26K out the door now.

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