Re: Alfa's return to America???

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

I think that this is probably the wise attitude to take toward this 
subject. OTOH, The Alfa Press Liaison in Torino, told me, not two weeks 
ago that as far as he knows. it's still the 2007 model year. But it was 
originally supposed to be 2003, then 2004, then 2005, now its 2007. Who 
knows how many more times this target will slip before it actually 
happens? My main worry is not as much when but what. What are they 
going to offer for sale in North America? The Official announcement at 
the Geneva auto show earlier this year stated that they would be 
selling ONLY the V-6 Spider, Coupe, and the 166 replacement here. These 
are very expensive cars and the 166 is a large Jaguar XJ-sized sedan, 
not exactly what US Alfisti are clamoring for. I told the PR guy that 
what American Alfa enthusiasts want is the 156, the 156 GTA, the 156 
wagon, and the 147, especially the 147 2.0 and the 147 GTA. I told him 
that these low and medium price vehicles with their stunning good looks 
and great Alfa performance would sell like hotcakes, some on looks 
alone. I went on to explain that the 166 and the Spider/Coupe would 
appeal to a much narrower audience, probably not representative of the 
US Alfa enthusiasts, and that they were putting themselves in exactly 
the same position that they were in when they lefty in 1995 - with no 
appealing product to sell to this market. He said that he would, of 
course, pass my comments along to the marketing people, but that he had 
no real power or influence in that department.

The irony in all of this, is that Fiat is in trouble due to shrinking 
market share yet they ignore the world's largest car market, North 
America, completely. Alfa Romeo is the only real bright spot in their 
otherwise grim sales performance and there is little question that the 
appealing cars made by Alfa now would sell tremendously well here. 
Sure, Fiat has quality issues from the old days to overcome, but so did 
the Mini. Fact is, Americans don't have that long of a memory when it 
comes to things like that. Fiat NEEDS The US market. Perhaps its just 
bad luck that their precarious financial situation -the one that will 
not allow them the resources to restart a US dealer network- happens 
during the largest world depression since the 1930's, but they need to 
bite the bullet and do so. Nothing restores confidence in a brand and a 
company faster than doubling or tripling last years sales numbers - 
depression or no depression.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S




On Monday, May 26, 2003, at 07:53 AM, alfa-digest wrote:


> Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 23:42:51 EDT
> From: MMosko@domain.elided
> Subject: Re: Alfa's return to America???
>
> The other day I spoke to the head of Alfa Romeo Inc. in Orlando, FL. 
> Alfa
> maintains an office and warehouse there to provide parts which they 
> sell to
> dealers around the country. My purpose in calling was to invite the 
> head of Alfa
> Romeo Inc. to the AROC national convention in Fort Lauderdale, July 3 
> - 6. He
> graciously declined the invitation explaining that should he attend our
> convention he would be beseiged with questions about Alfa's possible 
> return to the USA
> and would then face the embarrassment of telling all who asked that he 
> had no
> answer to their questions.
>
> This, in my view, is the official line of Alfa Romeo. It is possible 
> that an
> Alfa  return to the USA is a very low priority at Fiat considering the 
> urgent
> financial problems which Fiat has to deal with at the moment.  
> Conclusion..
> don't make any plans for buying a new Alfa in the next decade.
>
> Hope to see many of you at the AROC convention. If you need a schedule 
> of
> events and registration form please email and I'll email them to you.
>
> Marc Mosko
>                                                           President, 
> South
> Florida Alfa Romeo Owners Club
> Hollywood, Florida
> '65 Giulia Spider Veloce
> '74 GTV 2000 T.S.
> '91 164 S
>
>
>
> > Date: Sun, 25 May 2003 18:36:12 -0400
> > From: James Bratek <james_bratek@domain.elided>
> > Subject: New Alfas for the USA
> >
> > <<<I haven't heard much chatter about new Alfa models for the USA 
> > recently
> > ...
> > anyone have any news and thoughts about "the latest?" Last word I 
> > heard, we
> > were looking at 2007 introduction via dedicated Alfa Romeo dealer 
> > network
> > (not Cadillac nor Saab, though possible Ferrari-Maserati distribution
> > network), but unsure if Spider is to be first model or the new Brera 
> > (GTV?)
> > or redesigned 156. Any news about a desperately-needed replacement 
> > for the
> > slow-selling flagship 166?>>>
> >
> >
> > Jim
> [demime 0.99c.7 removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a 
> name of Classic White.jpg]
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