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Re: Alfa's return to America???



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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