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

["Peter Webb" <webb.p@domain.elided>]

I was going to reply on the pricing quoted by Dug on that last post.   I
seriously doubt the 147 would be priced at $40K here.  The 156 may well be.
I'd expect the 147 to be in the $25K range, in line with the high end
Cooper-S and WRX type market.   As much as I love the Cooper-S, I'd buy a
147 for the same money.    I do think the Mini, GTI and 147 go after the
same market along with several other $25K cars.    I agree with George that
the styling alone of the 147 would put it at the top of that list and it
will certainly outperform most $25K cars too.    I said most.   It probably
won't outperform forced induction like the Subaru's.

-Peter


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-alfa@domain.elided [mailto:owner-alfa@domain.elided]On Behalf Of
George Graves
Sent: Thursday, October 17, 2002 4:27 PM
To: alfa@domain.elided
Subject: Re: marketing a car in the usa (& elsewhere) -
lotus/nissan/alfa


I disagree about the 147. If they sold it here, even the 2-liter would
sell like hotcakes on looks alone. The 147 GTA would sell on looks and
performance and the 156 would sell as well for the same reason. The 156
wagon would likely be backordered till doomsday. If you've ever seen a
black or silver 156 GTA Estate Wagon in the flesh, you'd know what I
mean.

I suspect that the current GTV and Spider would sell OK too here in the
States. I've shown pictures to a lot of people, most think that they
are strikingly beautiful. They perform well too, but they would have to
sell in $30,000 to $40,000 range to be competitive. The $47,000 price
that AutoDelta wants for their re-badged versions only yields a unique
looking car, not a car with $50,000 worth of performance.

George Graves
'86 GTV-6



On Thursday, October 17, 2002, at 08:06  AM, alfa-digest wrote:

> Date: Thu, 17 Oct 2002 09:42:51 -0400
> From: dsedon@domain.elided
> Subject: marketing a car in the usa (& elsewhere) - lotus/nissan/alfa
<snip>
> 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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