Re: Alfa, Audi, DC, Fiat, Marketing and the U.S. Government

["Joe Garcia" <corsanostra@domain.elided>]

After reading all of the message on this thread I figured I might as well 
weigh in with my views.

1- Audi vs. Alfa. Audi makes the best "appliance" cars, IMO. My urS4 does 
everything that a luxury sedan/saloon is supposed to do, quietly and 
comfortably and safely with gobs of horsepower, ergonomic soundness and 
handling capability. Yes, it has zero steering feel. Audi came back because 
it had a car that was attractive as was its warranty and price. The 
cachet-per-dollar was attractive to those who would have LOVED an entry 
level Bimmer but couldn't or wouldn't pony up BMW coin. Did they capitalize 
on the general reputation for Teutonic bullet-proofness? Probably. Could 
Alfa have capitalized on the Italian reputation for beauty and passion and 
excitement? Probably. Could Alfa have overcome the horrid service 
reputation? Probably...just imagine if the, say, SZ had sold here for, say, 
20% less than the same year's M3 or RX7 or 944, AND had a serious warranty, 
etc.
2- Alfa sedans. For whatever reason, Alfa is viewed here as sports car 
company. Now, that doesn't mean that Alfa sedans COULDN'T sell here, it just 
means that the heavy lifting for the first X years would probably have to be 
done by the Spiders and GTVs, proving that Alfa builds reliable cars, with 
good warranties and stellar, "Lexus-level" service.
3- Fiat vs. Ford. If I remember correctly, there was a bit of a struggle 
over Alfa and if memory serves, Fiat won out under--to my mind, 
anyway--pretty dubious circumstances.
4- DC could position Alfa as the "entry-level" Italian sports car (the 
Italian "944", if you will)...progressing to positioning Alfa sedans as 
somewhere between the Benzes and the BMWs, giving DC the sporty edge that it 
doesn't have in comparison to its Germanic brethren.
5- Alfa marketing. Ick. Does anyone else shudder with horror at the 
"Alfissimo" ad campaign?
6- While the US government didn't kick out Alfa nor forbid its return, it 
sure as Hell isn't making easy on me to go to Europe, grab a SZ, 
"federalize" it and drive merrily on. The emissions bit is easy enough and I 
would guesstimate that crash regulations (which make the libertarian within 
seethe and gnash) could be handled by computer modeling.
7- As Alfas stand now, I prefer to remember them as they were. Personally, 
FWD is terribly annoying to drive. A 164Q4 would have been ideal instead of 
the urS4 I got. (A RWD 164, even better!)

- -Joe in not-so-sunny SoFla, currently between Alfae, but looking!!!
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