THE BILLION Euro wager

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Guest 1678

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Just spent 3 days in Val D’Aoste

Being a dedicated Alfisti and with my Stelvio due for pick up early March I was looking forward to seeing a swathe of Giorgio platform Giulias and Stelvios. 2 Giulias on the road and a Stelvio in the hire company car park. How wrong I was.

You cannot move around Milan for Q3, A3, Hyundai 4x4s and lots of small Kia’s.

I am seriously worried that the wager will not work. I know Alfa’s are an acquired taste, even in their homeland, but this concerns me.

To top off my worries the Alfa dealer in the U.K. was making a virtue of the exclusivity of my Stelvio. If they do not get a grip and sell some metal I am afraid Alfa and its Maserati sister brand are on a glide path to nowhere. I cannot see where the money will come from to invest in new emotional models.
 

P R

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Sales of Alfas have picked up considerably on the launch of the Giulia and Stelvio, though not as much as projected. Marchionne knows this and has stated so in public, saying it'll take time.

The right noises are coming out of FCA regarding Alfa, including the title branding of the Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 team.

Im not overly worried yet. They've made a class leading platform and car in the Giulia, and certainly a contender in the Stelvio (best imho ;) ) so give it time.
 
G

Guest 1678

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There seem to be supply issues as well. My Stelvio is 3 months late.

FCA has some major challenges. Whilst Alfa may be in the up (I remember the last surge with the 156/147 that doubled sales in a year and then petered out rapidly) sales of cars such as the 500x have collapsed.

Let’s see what he says in June at the last of his investor conferences.
 

GeoffCapes

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My missus saw a Stelvio at the weekend and said “that’s nice, what’s that?”

I was quite shocked as she generally doesn’t like Alfa’s.

Maybe Alfa’s are making cars for the wider market now, but the public hasn’t caught on yet!
 

P R

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1,382
There seem to be supply issues as well. My Stelvio is 3 months late.

FCA has some major challenges. Whilst Alfa may be in the up (I remember the last surge with the 156/147 that doubled sales in a year and then petered out rapidly) sales of cars such as the 500x have collapsed.

Let’s see what he says in June at the last of his investor conferences.

Yes not sure what the issue is. The Cassino plant certianly isnt overworked!
As for the 500x, I saw an article on Autocar the other day saying similar. When you look, however, sales in Europe went from 103k in 2016 to 91k in 2017. Not brilliant but hardly a disaster.
 

Jnismith

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284
Just saw a giulia quadrifoglio in Harownden today. Looked a mean old thing, hard to describe but looked like it meant the business. But overall very few new Alfa's around I think I've seen more Levante's than Stelvios.
 

Contigo

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Agreed, they should be about in abundance but you only see a few? What is the issue here? I know Alfa's have always been a very niche brand but they are making some cool cars at the moment. Anyone else think they are missing a trick not giving them out to forum owners and moderators to really push the brand and extol their virtues?
 
G

Guest 1678

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We are in a very worrying world. Mercedes sold 300k + GLC variants last year. It is a sack of ****. i had one as a courtesy car and it was the equivalent of a white good. BMW are replacing the X4 after just 4 years to compete.

Alfa are making some cracking cars. But they need volume and kudos. The major criticism of their current offerings is interior quality, the drive and dpd eel have been rediscovered imps spades. If only they could make an Alfasud replacement and destroy the A1/Polo hegemony and give the brand an entry point. The 6c is a nice idea but will not add to the coffers.

FCS if you are listening talk to customers, not focus groups of potential customers. There is a way to create a different path. You need to be Italian - lithe, emotional, vigorous. MBA 101 excel at what yiu are good at. Only diversify if you are prepared to lose the very thing you were good at!
 

conaero

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Agreed, they should be about in abundance but you only see a few? What is the issue here? I know Alfa's have always been a very niche brand but they are making some cool cars at the moment. Anyone else think they are missing a trick not giving them out to forum owners and moderators to really push the brand and extol their virtues?

They are a bit generic for the die hard Alfisti to buy (QV the exception) and just dont have that Alfa feel and as Damo points out the interiors are poor quality...something that was always special on an Alfa. So that leaves the new customers and fleets which it appears have not taken to it. Indeed worrying times sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place and not appealing to new or existing customers.
 

Zep

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Anyone else think they are missing a trick not giving them out to forum owners and moderators to really push the brand and extol their virtues?

A sage well thought out comment in my opinion. As long as they wait a couple of weeks
 

safrane

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16,748
As some may recall we were looking for a family SUV.

Took the GF to see the Alfa and her reaction was it looked no better than a Kia or Hyundi inside.
 

MrMickS

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3,951
We saw a few Stelvios in Rome the other weekend and a couple of Giulias. I'm not worried. It will take 2-3 years for the public to catch on, potentially longer over here asa we love our German cars. European sales are picking up, UK ones are lagging.

The adverts we have here are too subtle, not passionate enough, and not on enough. That said if they're are issues being able to deliver the cars that they have sold without delays then maybe the advertising is good enough for now.

The comments on interiors is interesting. You must owned different Alfa's to me. The Giulia and Stelvio interiors are better than any Alfa I've owned. They seem comparable to the C class and 4-series courtesy cars I've had as well. That said I've not driven a base model.

I'm trying to arrange a day test drive of a Stelvio but having been initially responsive the salesman is somehow now always on the phone and doesn't call back.
 

montravia

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1,619
A red Stelvios drew up and parked next to the GT in Cheltenham last weekend

The GT looked wide low and sleek. The Stellvios tall narrow and well, just another mummy barge.

Didn't look inside to observe interior quality. The current SUV fashion leaves me cold so no interest.

I was delighted that ALFA Romeo were gaining accolades with the Guilia, but seeing one close up at a dealers made me wonder whether the company is being a tad conservative in design. Anodyne.

I was passionate about the brand years ago and forgave the dreadful build quality for the sheer joy.

What happened to con cuore?

But there again perhaps they have given up on the enthusiast driver and gone 'average'
 

TridentTested

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You cannot move around Milan for Q3, A3, Hyundai 4x4s and lots of small Kia’s.

Yup, how sad. As an Italian car nut I loved visiting Italy years ago to see everyone driving Italian cars (with typical Italian madness) but last Easter when we flew to Turin and drove to France all the Italian roads were full of Audis Hyundis and Kias. I can't remember seeing a single Alfa, never mind Maseratis.
 

P R

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I have sat in both a Giulia and a Stelvio and I cant see anything wrong with the interior.

I also have driven various BMW 4 series in the last year or so, ranging from a 420i to a 435 gran coupe, and the Alfas are much nicer places to be. The BMs have hard plastics anywhere below the knee (which incidentially is what car mags always pick up as a negative on Alfas and never on anything else)! And thats before you look at the terribly dull design of them
 
G

Guest 1678

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With you on the interior. Had a Giulia for 10 days as a hire vehicle and I did not have any problems with it. I found it a nice place to be for the time I had it.

Struck me that with such good dynamics the journey had to find another area to pick on.

All manufacturers use hard plastics where they can get away with it.
 

P R

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All manufacturers use hard plastics where they can get away with it.

Absolutely. I think also that bottoms of door cards, low on the transmission tunnel etc.. you dont want soft plastics, as these can get easily scratched and scuffed.
 

conaero

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It wasn’t the hard plastics it was the bits you touch, the cubby lid and the switches. Agree it looks good from a distance but close up was disappointed. Suppose I’m more used to Maserati build quality which the Alfa most certainly wasn’t.
 

safrane

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Its the vast use of black that made it look cheap...if it had a bit of colour or even dare I say leather like an Evoque it would make a better impression.

After all its +£30k we are looking at for these.
 

conaero

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Its the vast use of black that made it look cheap...if it had a bit of colour or even dare I say leather like an Evoque it would make a better impression.

After all its +£30k we are looking at for these.

Funily you say that, I had an Evoque on order but saw I could get a 2.2 Guilia Speciale for about the same money. Rushed down to my local Alfa garage and was not impressed, sorry. Im a die hard Alfisti too.

Loving the Evoque, its a great car. May look at the Velar when the lease come up in a couple of years, really like JLR at the moment.

Saying that, we all have different opinions and if the Guilia is for you so be it and hope you enjoy your time with it.