Unfortunately, Fiat won't build it, and if they did, we, here in the
USA won't get it. It's time to face the facts. Alfa is NOT coming back
to the USA - ever. And if they were to come back, the cars won't have
any Alfa Romeo "DNA" in them (meaning that they will be more Fiat than
Alfa - actually, they already are). At this point, they're mostly just
up-scaled, rebadged Fiats and have been for more than a decade. From
what Marrichone said in Detroit in January, if Alfa doesn't sell a
hell of a lot more cars this year than they sold last year, Alfa's
100th year will be its last. Marrichone also said that in order for
Alfa to make it in the US market, they'd have to sell about 150,000
cars a year here. Where does he expect those sales to come from when a
company like SAAB can only manage 40,000 units sold in a GOOD year?
Let's see, What d'ya figure, there are maybe 10,000 Alfisti in all of
North America? Now maybe if each of us bought 15 new Alfas, they might
make their numbers. But seriously, A lot of people would buy an Alfa
on looks alone, but is that sustainable? I say no (especially if they
aren't a hell of a lot more reliable and less maintenance intensive
than they used to be - and from what I have read, they aren't). I say
that Fiat could sell, maybe, at the outside, 20,000 cars a year in all
of North America, and that won't make it worth Fiat's while to come
here.
Be happy with your old Alfas. Keep 'em up and pass 'em on to the next
generation. Our Alfas are STILL great cars no matter what happens to
the mother company.
Just my two-cents.
George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0 'S'
On Mar 3, 2010, at 12:44 PM, David Serafini wrote:
I assume many (or most) of you have heard about this by now, but
in case you haven't, or just want more, here's a link with a bunch of
pictures:
http://www.autoblog.com/2010/03/02/geneva-2010-alfa-romeo-2uettottanta-concept-by-pininfarina/
My 2 cents: it's gorgeous and represents a new design language that
other
(lesser) designers will be stealing from for years. The
rear ends on Bangle's Bimmers look even worse when you see what
someone
with real talent and vision can do.
Ciao tutti,
-david
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