Re: '95 Dealer Inventory

[JHertzman@domain.elided]

In AD7-1492 Karl Doll, responding to my reply to James Tsakirgis' question 
("Does this mean there were 400 LS & Q's sitting around a lot for two years 
and then sold in 1997 at dealers?") writes that in June 1995 he "was told 
there were a total of 5 cars for sale on the West Coast at that time. four 
white 5 speed LS models, and one Burgundy automatic" and "I can't imagine the 
situation was too much different in other parts of the US."

Luca Ciferri, Autoweek's source for the numbers, had written "In 1995 Alfa 
sold 565 cars" (NOT "In 1995 Alfa sold 565 164s") and "Another 400 cars, 
still in dealer lots, weren't cleared until 1997" (NOT "Another 400 164s, 
still in dealer lots, weren't sold until 1997"). Ciferri's statement would 
hold water if most, but not all, of a 400-car remaining mix of Spiders and 
164s had been sold in 1996.

Which may have been the case. Some time after Alfa pulled out Fred Di Matteo 
stopped by my house and we went by the local "dealer"; I remember Fred 
running his finger through the thick layer of dust on the solitary new 
"Commemorative Edition" Spider sitting in a corner of the showroom. Don't 
know when they sold it, but they eventually did.

Ciferri's numbers may be no more certainly correct than the predictions, in 
the same article, about the dates and sequences and characteristics of an 
Alfa return to this market, but he wrote only what he wrote. I have no reason 
to doubt what Karl writes about San Francisco marketability, but his "I can't 
imagine the situation was too much different in other parts of the US" is a 
stretch. There was, after all, a recent (January 16) sale offer on the digest 
of a Milano which had not been sold until 1998 - -

All that is ancient history, along with the planned 25,000-30,000 annual 
sales of the 164. Alfa's US sales in 2005, 2006, 2010- well, it will be 
interesting to watch.

John H.
Raleigh, N.C. 

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End of alfa-digest V7 #1493
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