Alfa & BMW

[Will Owen <nashwill@domain.elided>]

In Digest #907, Ian said:

"The yardstick over in Europe for the mid-sector,
sporting family car, is the BMW 3 series (forgive me
for
uttering those three letters in these hallowed pages),
and it's the one car that all others in the class are
judged against. To me, it's a very capable car, but a
cliche, a minor status symbol, and incredibly boring.
Many magazines carry road test putting the BMW and the
156 together, with headlines such as, 'Has BMW met its
match'..."

Historical perspective: BMW was essentially dead in
the water by 1960, its only money-makers being the
pretty but downmarket 700 sedan and coupe. They knew
that trying to compete with Mercedes again would kill
them dead, so they targeted a niche that only Alfa
seemed to know about: the sporty sedan market. The BMW
1500 (which grew eventually to 2 litres) was aimed
directly at the Giulia berlinas, as was the later,
smaller 1600. By the time that car evolved into the
2002, BMW owned that market in the US, and had pretty
much displaced Alfa's share in Europe. 

While that's not a story that Alfiste like to hear,
it's not wholly unsatisfying to contemplate the fact
that Alfa Romeo essentially invented the market that
saved BMW's ass.

Will Owen
Nashville, TN
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End of alfa-digest V7 #910
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