Re: Alfa return...

[Luca <nodoubt@domain.elided>]

At Mon, 3 Sep 2001 16:17:35 EDT Ed at Caribou wrote:
	
>What did I tell you??? Check the Forum archives and you'll see about 6
months 
>or so ago we had an "Alfa returns" thread where I posted that it will never 
>happen. After 21 years of dealing with the Italians, I told you all that the 
>course of action they would follow would first be to say "we'll be back
right 
>away", then it will be "we need to get the 1993 models ready for the US", 
>then it will be "we need until the 1994 or 1995 model year to make sure 
>everything is okay" (ALL of which has ALREADY happened!) and then it will be 
>"we really don't know when, but it's still on the table" (seems like where
we 
>are at now) followed by "right now we have more important thing to do, it's 
>on the back-burner" finally followed by lack of any further information.
>Face it folks... they ain't coming back.

Well, this time I feel I'd better jump on this wagon and write down
my own opinion. I feel I've to.
First thing to say, it ain't related to the "dealing w/ italian" matter.
This just because there's no more "origin nation" for anything, due to
market globalization. The companies are internationals, they got
business alliances all over the world. FIAT, just to bring it in, ie,
is theorically italian, it's partially owned (20%) by yankies (GM),
it surely got alliances with many other companies, there are Fiat
factorie everywhere, in latin america there were/are Fiats & Alfas that
I've never seen or that have never been sold here.
So how can you say that's all about dealing w/ Italians?? When some
of the company strategies managers are japanese, french, spanish, 
americans?
When neither the hand-workers are 100% italians ??
I can even buy Honda motorcycles MADE IN ITALY by italian hands!!! 
Go figure!
Second thing: I've been reading on this digest the most incredible amount
of reasons why Alfa left, Alfa will come back, Fiat's crap, Fiat is good,
people knowing Alfa, people ignoring Alfas... I've heard whatever.
Well, the biggest amount of digesti is from USA, and I've read enough
words to realize the problem is THERE and not here.
USA is the only market missing Italian cars. IT also misses many
other European brands (we were carrying an american friend in a Peugeot
206 while I was down in Buenos Aires, and this man wondered with which 
kind of car we were carrying him around... hell that car is the current
WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP champion.... how can't you know it!!).
USA is a world by itself. You got kind of races (ie Nascar) that
NOBODY in the planet enjoy. You got motor show and requirements
matching no country around. You barely know the GP motorcycle races (the
Formula 1 of motorcycles), you care more about AMA superbike (ignored
by the rest of the planet) than WORLD SUPERBIKE. If you got rally
races it's something no other country knows about. You managed to get
Formula1 last year, but it's a miracle and I bet people prefer the
crash-test-nascar rahter than F1.
It's a different world, different standards!
You have or have had tenth of car brands (Oldsmobile, Chevy, Studebacker,

GM, Lincoln, Pontiac and so on) nobody (Abroad) wants, nobody likes,
nobody needs, nobody dreams of.  You're stuck in an incredbile speed
limits spiderweb, full of zero tolerance cops... you can't enjoy anys
sport/fast car...but you buy 'em and your market is full of big engine, 
incredible displacements, endless tourque you can afford just because you 
produce your own gasoline and it costs 1/4 of the price we pay elsewhere.
The few american cars sold around are made by the foreign division
of your own companies (Ford-Germany... yes, cuz for me Ford is German,
Opel, the german Chevrolet building small Corsas e Astra rather than
glorious oversized Impalas & Bel Air).
The only foreign markets you accept are cheap rice eaters (because 
japan is the only country that actually really invaded USA with
their products... and you buy 'em all!) or OVERPRICED european
cars like Ferrari, Porsches, Mercedes, Bmw.  And the poor customer
wanting to own something that's not japanese nor american is stuck
in a restricted market, with extremely high prices, with everybody 
thinking he's just a showing off arsehole.
Sorry, but Mercedes here are one of the most comon cars.
You can see as many Beemer as Alfas here, it's full of porsches,
and the ferrari is also a sign of class, not a status symbol.
We got small Fiats, we got thousands of industrial cars made by fiat
and absolutely bullet proof (ie Fiat Fiorino, Fiat Marengo, Iveco
Turbo Daily, Punto Van).
Here a corvette is almost a grey import :-), nobody cares about it.
The Viper has been a big hole in the water: absolutely unreliable,
absolutely big, endless displacement and almost zero tecnology.
For those money I'd rather get a Porsche or a Jaguar XKR.
The very sole american company really doing well is Chrysler.
In the older years it was just badging Talbot & Simca (I owned
a Horizon 1.1 and a 1304 sedane), right now it's around with coupla
sedanes and a minivan.  They got a chance to sell here with the
minivan (world wide extended sickness, but we still do not get
any ugly ASTROVAN -comics heroes' car??- lcuckly!) and with the 
Neon, the very 1st crysler trying to be European sized keeping
it's own brand style. 
I could bring endless examplese about this (ie the very famous Dainese
motorcycle leather brand, more common than Levi's here, almost like
Prada/Valentino/Armani over there. Same for Ducati, so common in
Italy and Germany I'm sick of waving at 'em down the road)......  
I believe it's not about Italians, nor about Europe. It isn't about 
japanese either, nor due to poor reliability italian cars can offer. 
If there's no alfas there, if there's no fiats, no Lancias, no Peugeots,
not whatever you like and desire ... is just because USA refuses it!
The consumers standards over there are too weird, to far away from
world standards. I believe many companies prefer to ignore your 
market rather than going for unsecure investments trying to 
match your needs. 

I'll accept and discuss any opposite opinion. It's an intersting 
exchange of ideas. If this might fire up some flames or being
rated "VERY OFF TOPIC" by the moderator, please reply off-digest.


Luca, happy with what European market offers me.


nodoubt, 
crashed 937 landpilot
"I like anything that don't talk." King Benny - Sleepers
937RS2, 75 Turbo, RM250



http://www.geocities.com/twowheels_99

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