marketing a car in the usa (& elsewhere) - lotus/nissan/alfa

[dsedon@domain.elided]

hi all,

the isuzu engine in the last elan was *not* what did it in.  and, all the adwertizing in the world wouldn't have saved it.  the only way the elan could have been successful (well, at least as successful as any *other* lotus!), would have been if it was rwd.  plain & simple.  unless, of course, it was sold for $15k, and marketed to non-performance-oriented customers.

the latest iteration of the z-car is the same thing - if it were fwd, all the marketing in the world wouldn't help it.  unless, of course, it was <$20k for the top model.

re: the alfa 147 - unless a performance wersion could be marketed for for ~$20k or less, it would be doa in the usa.  after all, it has to compete against the (bmw) mini, the focus svt, the golf gti, etc.  these products, rightly or wrongly, are respected entities here.  a $40k 147 gta?  if alfa could sell even 25 here, i'd be flabbergasted.

doug s.

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