Alfa hits the states!

[Scaff]

If Alfa dealers don't give a s**t about the cars, Ferrari/Maserati dealers are likely to care even less.

Now I would not disagree that Alfa dealers are one the whole a sorry bunch, but to lump in Ferrari and Maserati dealers in with them is just plain wrong.

Over the years I have trained and mystery shopped a good percentage of the Ferrari/Maserati dealers in the UK, almost without exception the standards of customer service and care are excellent.

Alfa still heavely rely on looks and the fleet market in the UK to shift units, but they have a very poor customer retention level. To even begin to think about the US market, they are going to have to get that sorted.

Ferrari/Maserati dealers on the other hand are not stupid, no matter how rich the customers are (it is however interesting to note that most Ferrari and Maserati customers still use finance) they will still not put up with a poor level of service.

It would be the same as saying that the level of service an Aston Martin dealer gives will be poor, just based on the grounds that Ford dealers could also do with a lesson in customer car; or that I'm not buying that Lotus Elise because my local Proton dealer is a bit on the shabby side.

Just because they are owned by the same parent company does not equal the same level of service.

Regards

Scaff

BTW Young-warrior - trust me Ferrari customers expect work to be done under warranty the same as anyone else.


@ Famine - good to see Bill back, I've missed him.

 

[niky]

Easy.

Our Mondeo = Mondeo.
Our next Mondeo = Fusion.

It's even based on the Mazda6 - as the Focus is based on the Mazda3. Though AutoExpress's Mondeo concept looked ultra-awesome. Much more awesomener than the Fusion.

"awesomener"?

I hope we get the Fusion. Ford needs to kick itself into the midsize passenger car market here, and given conservative Asian tastes, the Fusion/Mondeo would sell very well. The Mazda 6 just isn't selling. Damn Ford/Mazda... the only 6 they brought in was the 2.0 AT, and there's no way in hell that'll cut it against V6 Accords and Camrys.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Well all I know is that my dads rich boss and all the rich people that liuve were he works pay for people to come and drive their exotics.

 

[TheCracker]

As sson as a maser or ferrari goes wrong they just shell out to fix it whilkst with alfa owners they expect some kind of warranty to kick in. Plus most people that own ferraris hardly ever drive them.

Now I would not disagree that Alfa dealers are one the whole a sorry bunch, but to lump in Ferrari and Maserati dealers in with them is just plain wrong.

Over the years I have trained and mystery shopped a good percentage of the Ferrari/Maserati dealers in the UK, almost without exception the standards of customer service and care are excellent...

...Ferrari/Maserati dealers on the other hand are not stupid, no matter how rich the customers are (it is however interesting to note that most Ferrari and Maserati customers still use finance) they will still not put up with a poor level of service...

...Just because they are owned by the same parent company does not equal the same level of service.

Thats not what i was saying guys.

What i was trying to say is that you can't expect Ferrari/Maserati dealers to care about the Alfa product they've been lumped with, when Alfa themselves seem to not be bothered with it to start with.

I'm sure Ferrari/Maserati dealers are great at what they do. But if they take on Alfa franchises i'm sure they'll have to take on new staff - who will be trained to deal with Alfas not Ferraris. If the customer care 'rot' comes all the way from the source, as i expect it does, i can't see how American dealers will be any different. There's little crossover between Alfa and Ferrari owners, any bad blood from the Alfa side of the business is unlikely to effect the Ferrari/Masser side. IMO.

 

[Scaff]

Thats not what i was saying guys.

What i was trying to say is that you can't expect Ferrari/Maserati dealers to care about the Alfa product they've been lumped with, when Alfa themselves seem to not be bothered with it to start with.

I'm sure Ferrari/Maserati dealers are great at what they do. But if they take on Alfa franchises i'm sure they'll have to take on new staff - who will be trained to deal with Alfas not Ferraris. If the customer care 'rot' comes all the way from the source, as i expect it does, i can't see how American dealers will be any different. There's little crossover between Alfa and Ferrari owners, any bad blood from the Alfa side of the business is unlikely to effect the Ferrari/Masser side. IMO.

Ah, right, OK, just talking at slightly cross purposes.

To be honest I think that Alfa may be able to avoid the issue if it moves back into the US market. Expected levels of customer service are far higher in the US and they would be able to start from an almost clean base.

Alfa in the UK has a historical issue, with a big decline in product and reliabilty in the late '80s and early '90s they network went downhill in a big way. Now the product is much more attractive and more reliable (which wasn't hard), but the network has got a long way to go to catch up.

It well known in the industry that if someone buys an Alfa, it will normally be the one and only, and thats not because of the car. Fixing product is a damn sight easier than fixing a dealer network.

Regards

Scaff

 

[Blackbird.]

Uh, YW, that mondeo of yours you posted is not our fusion. Your next model will be. We don't have that model here as far as I know...

 

[Young_Warrior]

I know. I was just merely commenting that you guys get a nicer one than us when usually we get the nice fords first.

 

[Famine]

"awesomener"?

I think this picture justifies the creation of a new portmanteau word. And remember, this is a 4-door family hatchback...

See?

It's a concept, named the "Iosis", so will probably look nothing like this. But still, daaaa-yum.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Slap a jaguar badge on it I say.

 

[Famine]

A four door Jaguar which isn't a saloon? No way.


It gets better too:

Far-too-big picture

It's clearly "borrowing" from the DB9/Vantage and the new XK8:

I certainly hope the new Mondeo looks like that though. Which rep will be disappointed getting a Mondeo company car now, eh?

 

[skip0110]

Ian Callum may only do one thing, but it's a damn good-looking thing. 👍 (I'm assuming that Iosis was penned by Callum)

 

[TheCracker]

Is it designed by that Callum bloke perchance?

 

[F1GTR]

Looks like a bigger RX-8 to me (I was going to say it looked like a four door RX-8, but then I realised the RX-8 does have four doors...)

 

[JCE]

I think this picture justifies the creation of a new portmanteau word. And remember, this is a 4-door family hatchback...

See?

It's a concept, named the "Iosis", so will probably look nothing like this. But still, daaaa-yum.

Ummm, I need to change my pants now. If Ford releases anything close to that under a Ford badge that would just be killer.

 

[Blackbird.]

It's not bad but nothing to drool about. The front looks the best. Need to lose the jaguar inspired lights. Not only is it copying (or borrowing) but those lights look ugly anyway.

 

[Vonie]

There was an article about this (the Iosis) in a Top Gear magazine.

 

[niky]

I think this picture justifies the creation of a new portmanteau word. And remember, this is a 4-door family hatchback...

See?

It's a concept, named the "Iosis", so will probably look nothing like this. But still, daaaa-yum.

I've seen that one. I love it, but it screams "RX8"... which probably means it's a good possible for production. It would be nice to have that chassis without the lovely but flawed rotary engine.

Ford is in an enviable position. They have so many different modern platforms to pick from that producing new cars and models off of them comes merely as an afterthought. (Like the Mustang/LS/(Jaguar S-Type? correct me if I'm wrong here), the S40/Focus/Mazda3, the Mazda6/Fusion/Escape/Tribute). Now if only they could make them all look more exciting.

 

[Wolfe]

as the Focus is based on the Mazda3.

Whaa...?

Dammit, and here I thought Ford made a great little hatch all by themselves...

Oh well. I think it's safe to assume the new Mustang is a Detroit-only effort, and that's a great car....

 

[a6m5]

New Mustangs are awesome. V-8 GT, that starts around mid-twenties that's a job well done. 👍 Iosis is a very beautiful car. It does borrow many design cues from other cars(couldn't figure out Aston until Famine mentioned it though 👍 ), but still very nice looking concept. It does look kinda like one of those concept cars, that will have hard time transforming into a production model though.

On Alfa Romeo, I'm very happy to hear that they are returning to America. Though I was never a fan of Spyder, I loved their sexy sedans. I belive they pulled out of U.S. around 1990, give or take a year or two. Now that Alfa offers more sexier cars than ever, I'll be doing a lot, every time I see one on the streets. Too bad I can't afford one!

P.S. I belive only Alfa dealer where I live was also a Ferrari dealer anyway.

 

[niky]

Whaa...?

Dammit, and here I thought Ford made a great little hatch all by themselves...

Oh well. I think it's safe to assume the new Mustang is a Detroit-only effort, and that's a great car....

It's supposedly a ground-up blank sheet design, but it is based on the architecture taken from the underappreciated Lincoln LS and Jaguar S-Type, redesigned to be much stiffer and with an all-new suspension. Apparently, the fine IRS in the Lincoln and Jag is too genteel for a muscle car... or expensive. , still, the Mustang is one fine car, if a little too retro.

I'd buy one, though, if they sold them here.

And even though the new Focus, Mazda3 and S40 share a chassis, suspension design and tuning are different for each product (Ford's got the best, I think, while Mazda's got the stiffest...), though Mazda and Ford share engines, they're tuned slightly differently. The only engine shared with the S40 is the T5 in the ST. While the new Focus and the Mazda3 are almost clones, differences in the suspension, refinement, insulation and tuning give them a distinctly different character.

The first Focus was on its own platform, I think. But wasn't it developed by Ford of Europe?

 

[JohnBM01]

I see it like this. If you don't have the money for a Ferrari, you can get some quality bang for your buck with Alfa Romeo. It's still Italian engineering at its best, even if FWD. I never considered myself big on Alfa Romeo, but they do make some awesome automobiles. I recall seeing those Nice Alfa Romeo 145s racing in the British Touring Car Championship (back when I wasn't taking daytime classes just to see them). They were a privateer deal, but I loved those 145 touring cars. And speaking of Touring Cars, it would be very interesting to some of see Alfa Romeo's finest cars break into Speed World Challenge. They already own a few championships with FIA Touring Car (or is it Supertouring?), so imagine them owning BMWs and Mazdas in SPEED Touring Car, then CTS-Vs and Vipers in SPEED GT.

I have never seen an Alfa Romeo up front except for maybe some 1980s or 1990s model probably imported from Mexico or some place. I'd surely be interested to stand next to an Alfa Romeo GT in the States. You talk about "sex on wheels," the Alfa Romeo GT is pretty mean. I'm somewhat not a fan of their front designs, but it's a beautiful car from the sides and at the end. Only thing I probably won't bank on is seeing American buyers want an Alfa Romeo in that Crystal Topaz "Metallizato," or whatever that color-shifting paint choice is called.

If Alfa Romeo really breaks into America and causes a stir, how far do you think Alfa Romeo can go in America? One last Alfa note, that classic Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 Duetto is beautiful.

 

[Young_Warrior]

Too be honest the alfas are still exotics in taht they break down alot mechanically. Most people in teh UK say theyre cars are in the dealership more than in their own garage.

As for touring cars Alfas are in the World Touring car championship in which they and BMW have been doing some serious battling. In the end BMW came out on top. The championship also runs hondas seats and Chevrolet Lacettis which were complety useless.

 

[Encyclopedia]

I had no idea you guys didn't get Alfa's over there. Extraordinary.

 

[Famine]

The first Focus was on its own platform, I think. But wasn't it developed by Ford of Europe?

Yep.

 

[Danny]

I think that if you're jealous of a countries cars, move there!
Problem solved

Don't all leave Korea at once now...

 

[JCE]

I think that if you're jealous of a countries cars, move there!
Problem solved

Sure, just give me some money to move to Germny, take language lessons, and enough to buy my first BMW or Audi. 👍 That's all I need to get out this country...money. I'll take any donations to get me to Austrailia/New Zealand, England, Japan, or if the economy was better--Germany.

 

[Wolfe]

Oh, I see. So the first Focus was its own car (yes, I knew it was developed by the British Ford, but it's still good to hear that they know (or knew) how to boogie by themselves). That's the Focus that I meant. I hate the new one.

@ultrabeat: If only that were financially plausible... Oh well. I may be living in the wrong place, but I'm still driving a Bavarian car, so it's all good!

As for your Korea comment, I gotta say, for a Korean bargain-priced FWD family sedan, the new Sonata is pretty nice.

 

[niky]

I wouldn't mind buying a Hyundai Coupe. Sure the engine's too big, it has too little horsepower, and it's a Hyundai, but damn, it feels good to sit in / drive.

Heck, if I could pick a country to go to, I'd go back to the US! Still the widest selection of cars available, without ridiculous taxes (Japan) or gas prices (UK).

 

[JCE]

I wouldn't mind buying a Hyundai Coupe. Sure the engine's too big, it has too little horsepower, and it's a Hyundai, but damn, it feels good to sit in / drive.

Heck, if I could pick a country to go to, I'd go back to the US! Still the widest selection of cars available, without ridiculous taxes (Japan) or gas prices (UK).

My little brother has the GT V6 in Black and it is an exceptionally good car. And, by FAR the best Korean auto export. But, it is indeed underpowered with that size of a V6. Maybe Hyundai should of bought the rights to use a Japanese V6 or a killer Japanese 4cyl. And of course RWD couldn't hurt.

 

[JohnBM01]

Folks, my apologies. When I talked about the hatchback Alfa, I meant to state the 147. No such thing as the 145. Or was there? That is all, carry on carrying on.