Re: USA taste

[Keith Walker <100662.3423@domain.elided>]

>>exile from the most lucrative market in the
world...........................
 and priced AGGRESSIVELY (remember the 1st year Audi A4s? I
picked one up for my sister, pretty loaded, for $23.5K, new)<<

I think this is the point. The US is, per unit, a VERY low profit
area. A base model Audi A4 (1.6L version) will cost the
equivalent of $24.5K new in the UK before tax. To get that Audi
do not even have to ship their cars accross the Atlantic,
nor risk their hand with the potential for large lawsuits. Why should
Alfa try in a market with massive fixed costs and very low
profit margins. The US is a far from lucrative market, it is
just potentially big.

The US is one market where there is very little competition. The
main marques are pedaling wares designed in particular
for that market. OK, US companies Ford and GM have a large
slice of the EU market (but tiny compared to their fraction of
the US market), but the cars are barely related to their US
models. When they have tried to produce a "World Car" it
has bombed out (witness the Mondeo). Alfa is far too small
to produce different models for a particular niche market.
It is perhaps a shame that their marketing department
did not view 99% of the cars they made to be worth
exporting to America.

All the best

Keith

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