Re: Speculation re: Alfa and the Americas

[Alberto_Fontova@domain.elided (Alberto Fontova)]

Here's my $0.02 cents- or maybe $0.25 cents because its so long.

As a business problem, Alfa's ability to re-enter the NA market and
prosper is a very interesting question.

Looking for similar case studies - old manufactoring company, strong brand
image, decling product quality - Harley Davidson is a good one.  H-D much
like Alfa in late 70's and 80's failed to modernize, got smoked by the
Japanese, and should have ended up out of business.  Clever marketing and
a fundamental redesign of the product, brought the level of reliability
dramatically up and the company was not only saved, but is prospering.

The Alfa Romeo brand has enough cache that the same approach could be
taken to sell its cars.  Based on trips to S. America where Alfa's are
being sold today, conversations I've had with various folks lead me to
believe Alfa has a very good image and has solved the reliability problem.
 So two of the largest barriers to success can realistically be overcome.  

Demographics can also work in Alfa's favor.  Boomers, who are H-D's
largest customer base,  recognize the Alfa brand name, and may even have
fond memories of riding in spiders etc.  Plus they have lots of money to
burn. Then there is 'Generation Y".  There are 60 million ' Gen Y'ers' or
Echo Boomers (kids born after 1979) in the US.  These kids love european
cars - I was visiting a internet start-up firm the other day and every car
in the lot was a VW Jetta! - and I bet these kids have no preconceived
ideas about italian cars and reliability.   Based on these two consumer
groups, Alfa could sell its entry level sport sedan to the kids, and sell
a mid-priced roadster to the yuppies.

So Fiat has a great brand in Alfa, has a quality product, and an
attractive group of consumers to sell to.  Next is distribution and this
problem because of its complexity and expense, maybe insurmountable.  But
I think there are two ways around this.  The most obvious is selling the
company or forming a partnership with a manufacturer that has a
distribution network in the N.Amer..  Two of the last independents that
know how to sell cars in N.Amer are BMW and (...zip...flame suit on)
Honda.  A crazy, creative type approach - Fiat could team up with a
motorcycle manufacturer -maybe Ducati- to enter the market selling a
narrow product line to upscale motor-sport enthusiast.

Alberto
1987 Spider

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