Why Alfa could fail in America | FerrariChat

Why Alfa could fail in America

Discussion in 'Other Italian' started by JBsZ06, Jul 13, 2016.

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  1. JBsZ06

    JBsZ06 Formula Junior

    Dec 6, 2003
    761
    Alfa lease deals blow.

    I just got an email to go check out the new Alfa spider 4c...

    With a special 24 month lease...

    Only 800 a month with 6000 down...

    Are these idiots for real?

    That's almost 1100 a month for 24 months no money down...

    Talk about not being competitive in the leasing game.

    Sergio better launch the guila with better pricing if he wants to get any traction in the USA...

    I don't lease but 85 percent of the consumers in the guila segment do..

    He needs to out lease the BMW 3 series with the guila or his new fantastic totally renovated brand Alfa will lay a huge egg that he will never recover from..


    Much like what is happening g to Maserati..



    Sergio just better take the early hit in depreciation for the first few years...to better compete with BMW..

    Figure out a turbo four with wide wheels, heated seats and AWD for 600 down 299 a month to compete with the BMW 320x with heated seats and a sunroof at 600 down 299 a month lease...

    The residual is strong for that car and them BMW just does 100 percent depreciation every other option that they over charge for to make their profit.

    BMW makes these 299 specials available in various colors...so the consumer decides what they want...usually the first lease is the base car...and when the lease is up...the consumer not only comes back to BMW...but orders more options to up the profit per car..

    AlFa needs to follow the BMW lease marketing program to win..

    Cadillac screwed up with the ATS turbo AWD and its dead in the sales water...and it was a fine car.

    Just my two cents as Alfa prepares for USA sales with the guila...

    Btw..the 70 grand guila crushes the performance of the Alfa 4c...which is quite stupid ..

    Time to retire the 4 c or give it a more powerful motor...

    355 hp for a two liter like Mercedes AMG 45 or BMW m2 for the price of the a
    Fa 4c makes more sense..
     
  2. dave_fonz_164

    dave_fonz_164 Formula 3

    Mar 11, 2004
    1,658
    Montreal, Canada
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    Davide Giuseppe F.
    They sell about 40 Alfa 4C's a month in the whole country, does it really need to be competitive? It's a hand-built roadster, no need for 0% financing and free service loaners and end of month bonuses lol

    The Giulia will be competitive, no doubt, in the same way Jaguar is being extra competitive with the XE.

    The Giulia is already priced lower than the German 3 in Europe to start, that pattern should be repeated.

    The big concern is dealer service and post-sale service.

    The German 3 practically give their cars away, loaner programs and demos, that's how the move metal.....
     
  3. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Yah but I think different dealers have different lease programs. Mine was offering like $550 a month but I didn't check out the terms. I didn't get the impression a lot of these were leased or that they wanted to lease many (aka -- get them back used).

    The trick will be the lease program they come up with for the Guilia.

    There's a LOT of ways Alfa can fail but this is a pretty minor one.
     
  4. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    Aug 19, 2002
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    does anyone seriously believe Alfa will be a sustainable brand in the USA?

    seriously ?
     
  5. stever

    stever F1 Rookie
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    Apr 18, 2006
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    +1
     
  6. henryr

    henryr Two Time F1 World Champ
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    Nov 10, 2003
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    Juan Sánchez Villa-L
    Why Alfa could fail in America


    because they are 0 and XXXX to date ?
     
  7. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    I do wish them the best of luck, but I just don't see it happening over the long haul
    I feel for the dealers that have invested great sums of $$$........but I guess we'll see what happens
     
  8. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Depends on their product line. They need the SUV they are working on with Jeep.

    I think there is a market out there for a second BMW if its cool enough. But the dealer network is really poor. That's the biggest challenge.

    I can tell you this... the 4c was never intended to be a big sales success but its an amazing PR stunt. The comments I get on it and questions about it are way beyond Ferrari. And, it set a successful tone for their styling strategy which is one of the biggest hurdles in launching a brand.
     
  9. F1tommy

    F1tommy F1 World Champ
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    The 4C was good but Alfa made the Giulia look like everything else....They have done the same thing with Maserati in the last few years....They need to break away with more original styling or they will not do well again...The Alfa/Maserati engines are good and the Alfa V6 turbo engine I think will be great.
     
  10. jm2

    jm2 F1 World Champ
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    We'll see what happens in the long run.
     
  11. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Someone said that eventually there will be only 2 car companies left in the world.

    If you were to guess they would be Ford and Toyota. Everyone else would be purchased by these two -- and that includes Tesla.
     
  12. WJGESQ

    WJGESQ Formula 3

    Dec 30, 2004
    1,477

    4C is interesting but way too much for a four banger.
     
  13. galt

    galt Formula 3
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    Jun 19, 2005
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    When the car is that light---you don't really need more than a four banger... Times are changing...

    911R or GT3RS or Ford GT--alot to pay for a "6 banger"? I don't think so... ;-)
     
  14. WJGESQ

    WJGESQ Formula 3

    Dec 30, 2004
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    Light it might be--and the power to weight ratio dictates performance--but it's is a lot of money for the market. And it does not appear the sales are very solid. But whatever you want--but I'd suspect many sales won't be impressive and part of that is likely to be on account of the price per cylinder.

    GOOD CAR BAD CAR: The Inevitable Sports Car Fade? Alfa Romeo 4C Sales Are Already Fading, But Jaguar F-Type Sales Keep Rising
     
  15. GrigioGuy

    GrigioGuy Splenda Daddy
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    Alfa will fail because they're using the FIAT dealer network.

    I've owned my 500 Abarth for under 2 months, and the parts & service department at the local dealer is beyond incompetent. The sales guys there are different every time I drop by, with different stories on the same cars.

    Terrible, and people with BMW/Merc/Lexus backgrounds will not accept this level of professionalism.
     
  16. galt

    galt Formula 3
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    #16 galt, Feb 14, 2017
    Last edited: Feb 14, 2017
    Yes, it is very light--and yes the market is small--and that is the point! It is simply not a mass market car.

    With all do respect to the brilliant journalists at "Good Car Bad Car", I just don't think this is the type of car Alfa (or any reasonable person) would ever expect to have high sales. The 4C is not intended to be a mass market refined sports car--this should be self explanatory--the car has no trunk for crying out loud. Unless you count that cubby hole behind the engine.

    In fact, I would not be surprised if Alfa is losing money on each car sold given the labor intensive carbon tub. Is there any other carbon tub car near the price? Further--there is probably an upper limit anyway on how many chassis they can produce given the production process.

    The 4C is a statement car for Alfa. The target market for the alfa is not thinking---hmm how can I get the most cylinders for my money..Alfa was surely not thinking---"hmm how can we make a high volume sports car?--I know lets make it extremely hard to manufacture, make it in the low volume Maserati facotry and really only usable as a third car--that will work--we will sell more of these than Porsche sells Boxsters!" Ummmm No..

    The Alfa Giulia--now that is a different story. That is designed to compete heads up with the BMW sports sedans.
     
  17. ForzaV12

    ForzaV12 Formula 3

    Sep 15, 2006
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    The Alfa is a fantastic car. It appeals to the enthusiast like BMW used to. Hopefully, they'll be able to garner enough sales from folks that
    get it", as many of the poseur drones will wander blindly down to the BMW lot and pony up for whatever lease they can afford. Never mind that much of BMW's line are no longer segment leaders and that cars like the ATS-V, Audi, Camaro , Jaguar, etc are a more interesting choice with better chassis,steering and brakes. The suburban Haus Fraus don't care as long as they can say they have a BMW or Lexus in the driveway. Considering how hideous the Lexus line has become visually, its hard to understand how any are sold-just confirms the lemming mentality of the middle class aspiring to perceived status.
     
  18. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Alfa now advertising leases for $379 a month.
     
  19. TheDuke

    TheDuke Formula 3
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    One issue I see with DFW is that there isn't an Alfa dealer in Dallas. They need one by all the Park Place dealerships by Love Field or in Plano by Classic BMW and the new Lexus and MB dealers out there.

    They have two dealers in Ft. Worth and then one out in McKinney. They need one in Dallas
     
  20. TheMayor

    TheMayor Nine Time F1 World Champ
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    Wow that is weird. There are two in Vegas.
     
  21. WJGESQ

    WJGESQ Formula 3

    Dec 30, 2004
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    The original post asked or postulated as to how Alfa could fail. That's what I was responding to, not bad mouthing the car or its performance.
     
  22. leead1

    leead1 F1 Rookie

    Nov 29, 2006
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    I drove one at the dealership and I was impressed. Very good handling and snappy performance. It is not a high end sports car but that is not what they are trying to do. The price point is fair although cheaper at the showroom is always better.

    I am not sure about reliability but most cars these days are pretty good.

    I hope they do well

    Lee
     

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