[RustyBitz]

This is one beautiful car but the sales don't seem to be stacking up in Europe and in the US!

Since launch I have only seen one and this was the 4 pot diesel.

May 2016 - April 2017 18,908 Giulias sold in all of Europe.

January - April 2017 1,608 Giulias sold in all of USA.

Only 28 of the M3/M4 rival V6 BITURBO QV AUTO registered since Q4 2016.


Sources

http://carsalesbase.com/european-car...eo/alfa-romeo-

https://www.howmanyleft.co.uk/vehicl...iturbo_qv_auto

[TouringPleb]

I guess it takes time to re-enter one of the most competent segments when you've been absent for a few years. I think the Germans have got this market totally sown up.

As for the American sales, I'm just guessing but the average American probably thinks Alfa Romeo is a pizza topping.

[RustyBitz]

Definitely, I think the fact there isn't many deals around also isn't helping them.

[RustyBitz]

I don't think the Alfa brand is a strong one anymore especially with the younger drivers.

They see BMW, Mercedes etc and want that vs. Alfa.

[Tengocity]

Originally Posted by Lobb

I read that 95% of retail car sales are now on finance. There's the problem.

Certainly list price is irrelevant if the finance deals Alfa are offering can't compete with the Germans.

[Postcab]

There are some good Finance deals on the Giulia. Current PCH deal on the 280 Veloce is 6+23 on 8k miles pa at £319pm.

I test drove a 280 Veloce but wasn't blown away. Good looking car, but road noise on the run flats was pretty poor (and I won't make that mistake again). I think its an LCI away from being competitive with the best.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by RustyBitz

I don't think the Alfa brand is a strong one anymore especially with the younger drivers.

They see BMW, Mercedes etc and want that vs. Alfa.

The product quality has been utterly crap in the past, and that makes it a tough sell. Those in a position to buy one are probably wary of their reputation.

In the early 90s I had just started work as a graduate trainee, and had bought a Golf GTI Mk2. Alfa were trying to tempt people to try their cars and were offering a free hamper of Italian food to those who took a test drive.

Out of interest I went along and drove one, probably an Alfa 75. It was worse in every single respect than my Golf GTI - slower, poor build, poor handling... I just couldn't see the point. I collected my hamper, and when I opened it later, I realised that most of the food had gone off quite some time before. Much like the car really.

I can't imagine ever buying an Alfa.

[RustyBitz]

Originally Posted by JD6

The product quality has been utterly crap in the past, and that makes it a tough sell. Those in a position to buy one are probably wary of their reputation.

In the early 90s I had just started work as a graduate trainee, and had bought a Golf GTI Mk2. Alfa were trying to tempt people to try their cars and were offering a free hamper of Italian food to those who took a test drive.

Out of interest I went along and drove one, probably an Alfa 75. It was worse in every single respect than my Golf GTI - slower, poor build, poor handling... I just couldn't see the point. I collected my hamper, and when I opened it later, I realised that most of the food had gone off quite some time before. Much like the car really.

I can't imagine ever buying an Alfa.

I always have wanted an Alfa (I'm only 30). Thankfully I have driven my mums partners Alfa enough times to put me off and the fact it was constantly in the garage getting fixed.

[Postcab]

Originally Posted by JD6

I can't imagine ever buying an Alfa.

But would you consider renting one for 2 or 3 years?

Not sure the reliability is much worse than BMW, however they do seem to have some shocking dealers when it comes to after sales.

[davyk31]

I would happily take one on a two or Three year lease. Warranty for the whole term and no worries about residuals. For that you get a stylish much more individual car appreciated by petrol heads everywhere.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Postcab

But would you consider renting one for 2 or 3 years?

Not sure the reliability is much worse than BMW, however they do seem to have some shocking dealers when it comes to after sales.

I probably wouldn't rent one either. Build quality is important to me, even if it was just a rental car.

I had a similar experience with Maserati - I borrowed a new 3200GT for the weekend from Maranello in the early 2000s. The quality was just so far below my BMW M5 which I had at the time. Pretty car (and a very pretty girl selling them) but terrible build quality and the laggy engine was not great. I even had to borrow a wooden spatula so that I could prise open the fuel filler flap. Stepping back into my similarly priced M5 felt like stepping up several classes of car.

Perhaps I'm just not cut out to own an Italian car!

[TouringPleb]

Originally Posted by JD6

The product quality has been utterly crap in the past, and that makes it a tough sell. Those in a position to buy one are probably wary of their reputation.

In the early 90s I had just started work as a graduate trainee, and had bought a Golf GTI Mk2. Alfa were trying to tempt people to try their cars and were offering a free hamper of Italian food to those who took a test drive.

Out of interest I went along and drove one, probably an Alfa 75. It was worse in every single respect than my Golf GTI - slower, poor build, poor handling... I just couldn't see the point. I collected my hamper, and when I opened it later, I realised that most of the food had gone off quite some time before. Much like the car really.

I can't imagine ever buying an Alfa.

We had a similar experience test driving a 147 when they were new.

The salesman actually told us it was called the 147 because there would be 147 recalls on it!

It had an airbag light on and the ABS light kept flashing on and off!

Needless to say we didn't buy one!