RE: Alfa's unlikely return

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> I'm disheartened to hear Dave Mericle's story of Alfa's view of American
> buyers and their unlikely return even though I'm guilty of being one of
> those "cheap bastard" alfisti. On paper, it seems improbable that I would
> plunk down $30K for a car with only a non-turbo four-banger driving it.
But
> last year in Monterrey, after the sound of that Tipo 33 Stradale melted my
> heart (and ears), I was ready to put down a deposit on a beautiful 156 TS
> right then and there. The style of Alfa's cars is undeniable and the
<snip>

BINGO!

sure, most alfa owners in the us are cheap b*stards, however i don't think
that is a good excuse for alfas pathetic marketing attempts in the past.  i
also don't believe that they would have to build a generic
point-a-to-point-b piece of transportation to be successful in this country.

alfa never understood how to market in this country.  products don't sell
themselves.  bmw, audi, etc *do* understand how to market here.  alfas poor
marketing resulted in *us* for a customer base, hardly enough to survive on,
hence the pullout.

i still think that a teenager with an average iq could sell alfas here,
especially with ferrari in the fold.  the above triggered response, in which
the stradale had mike ready to crack open the checkbook for a 156 could just
as easily be stimulated by placing alfas next to ferraris in the showroom.

it's a copout to place the blame for incompetent marketing on the target
customer base that you weren't able to reach, or on the few that you were
able to reach.

management at fiat doesn't have the balls to compete in this market.  it's
not the cars that are the problem, or the limited customer base they were
able to reach in the past.  it's the leadership of the company that's at
fault.

bs

p.s.  in the past, i was not able to afford a new alfa, hence the need to
satisfy my urges with used ones.  if the new gtv was available here now,
however, i'd be in line for it.

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