Re: Ford-Alfa-Wills St. Clair-Hupmobile-Duesenberg-Stutz-Isotta Fraschini-MG

[MAXLTV@domain.elided]

In a message dated 9/15/1999 07:58:14 EST, owner-alfa-digest@domain.elided 
writes:

<< 
 Explain to me where Maserati would overlap with any product now produced by 
 Fiat, Ford or GM? The closest is Jaguar which is more of a woman's car than 
 anything. All about style with very little substance. The real overlap is 
 Alfa & Lancia, covering the same price points and similar market 
demographics 
 and that is within the FIAT family, if purchased by Ford one or both would 
go 
 because Volvo is already in place, at GM there is Adam Opel.
 Worry more about Alfa if it happens than Maserati.
 
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It's not that I'm worried about product overlap in this particular case, but 
the latest Maserati 3200 is less than inspiring, and yes, Jaguar can make a 
horse race out of a relatively limited production XK range. But Jaguar's 
success can be also be traced to it's much improved quality. This isn't the 
old days, and people with this kind of money to spend really don't relish 
keeping up with their cars, and relying on a skimpy dealer network. They 
value their time in a way enthusiasts of old didn't. Another thing people in 
this class don't care about is seeing which car is fastest by .3/sec in the 
quarter mile. Fast is fast enough, and while the young look for this kind of 
superiority, things like status and ease of ownership count for more here. 
True, the Jag is what we used to call a "boulevard car," but it is drop dead 
gorgeous, and it is usable, even for the mall. I just don't see a market for 
the Maser here. The Maserati will sell for about 80k. Funny enough, it's not 
expensive enough to be a second car, and it's too much of a headache to use 
as a "daily." Verdict: Porsche isn't loosing sleep.  

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