RE: Beating the dead horse: Alfa's non-return to the US, and...

["Brian Shorey" <bshorey@domain.elided>]

> > Why is it now that the A4, A6, XJ etc. are doing so well here?
> 
> Duh, Ford is a major force behind the dealer network and advertising
for
> Jag.  However, the perception of unreliable break down machines still
> existed.

Fords dealer network doesn't explain Audis recovery.

Audi faced one of the most difficult situations any automobile
manufacturer has ever been able to recover from in this country.  The
cars weren't unreliable, they didn't rust out early, they were CONFIRMED
KILLERS!

Audi, to it's credit, demonstrated to it's loyal customers and to the
general public that it was going to be just as loyal right back to them,
it pulled itself up from it's bootstraps, and it recovered.  It took
time and dedication, but look at the results.

I believe (I could be wrong) that Jag was doing ok here prior to Ford
buying them out, they've always had the reputation of being unreliable
but prestigious enough to be worth the trouble.  Now Ford has fixed the
reliability problems, and stuck a lot of Ford parts into the Jag, but
the prestige doesn't seem to be suffering any.  Except maybe amongst the
purists, but who cares about them, Jag is selling more cars to the
unwashed nowadays and that's all that matters.

Alfa pulled up stakes and walked away, and it's problems were a lot less
severe.  When they come back, *if* they come back, it's the unwashed
masses they hope to capture, not the miniscule number of purists.

bs
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