RE: Alfa Romeo Giulia pricing announced
Discussion
I think these have the potential to sell well - they appear to be roughly competitive with the Germans, and lets face it, a big part of the attraction is that they are not a dull 320 or A4.
Dealers will be a problem - there aren't very many, and quite a lot of them are awful. The Alfisti would cheerfully take the car to be serviced at the local specialist (half the price, better quality), but there are a lot of people out there who like the "sitting in a glass box being sucked up to by the receptionist" experience.
Depreciation - not really an issue if Alfa are writing the deals themselves.
Alfa have history in this space - remember the 156 which sold very well in "cooking" spec. This time they need to follow it through rather than acting all surprised when something sells well and they have no updates for it.
Dealers will be a problem - there aren't very many, and quite a lot of them are awful. The Alfisti would cheerfully take the car to be serviced at the local specialist (half the price, better quality), but there are a lot of people out there who like the "sitting in a glass box being sucked up to by the receptionist" experience.
Depreciation - not really an issue if Alfa are writing the deals themselves.
Alfa have history in this space - remember the 156 which sold very well in "cooking" spec. This time they need to follow it through rather than acting all surprised when something sells well and they have no updates for it.
robemcdonald said:
Prices date a premium over the establishment? What does that premium get you? More equipment? Not really. More power? No. A better dealer experience? Not unless thing between now and launch. This is going to have to be a hell of a drive to make sense.
Again, prices are for the automatics compared to the manuals of the competition. Prices are actually very similar or even undercut them.What it offers you though is something different and probably a lot more exclusive.
Alfa are daft,
Build a great looking car, make I competitively priced and generate some interest on social media/press etc then go and not put the car onto their own website.
First thing a lot of people do when they hear about the car and think they can afford it is to go on line and configure a car and get the finance figures on PCP. To have none of this information is more than a little silly. Alfa aren't alone in being useless but then they probably need to try a little harder than the Germans to sell cars.
Build a great looking car, make I competitively priced and generate some interest on social media/press etc then go and not put the car onto their own website.
First thing a lot of people do when they hear about the car and think they can afford it is to go on line and configure a car and get the finance figures on PCP. To have none of this information is more than a little silly. Alfa aren't alone in being useless but then they probably need to try a little harder than the Germans to sell cars.
kambites said:
Which is fine if you would be buying an automatic from the competition but not much use if you'd be buying a manual.
In the same way that quoting the price of the manual rivals isn't helpful if you would be buying am automatic.Either way. Those prices don't appear to be like for like unless they actually are the prices for automatics
Itsallicanafford said:
well sort of, but my GT's JTD engine snapped its cambelt at 70K and 4 years old (serviced on the button) but that's only my experience.
Thing is with Alfa is what are the dealers like? They were pretty shoddy back then (2004). its got to be a big factor as you are going to have an ongoing relationship with them (not a dig at Alfa, all cars need servicing etc). Lexus, although never mentioned in these discussions, are pretty faultless in my experience and this was certainly a factor in my purchase of an IS over an A4, 3 series etc
Isnt the interval 3 years for JTDs? Alfa might have overstated the belt longevity initially, right now every specialist recommends a belt swap every 3 years on every alfa engine, and im looking at 60K miles for a JTD 16v.Thing is with Alfa is what are the dealers like? They were pretty shoddy back then (2004). its got to be a big factor as you are going to have an ongoing relationship with them (not a dig at Alfa, all cars need servicing etc). Lexus, although never mentioned in these discussions, are pretty faultless in my experience and this was certainly a factor in my purchase of an IS over an A4, 3 series etc
And yeah, dealership will be a big factor, at least as long as the car is new enough to bother with dealer services for warranty. My 14 year old 147 just gets its service from either myself or a trusted indy.
Clivey said:
IMO auto only isn't such a problem in 4-cylinder diesels but the issue for enthusiasts is there's nothing between the dull 4-pots and the mental nutter model that mere mortals can't afford!
Problem is that with everything turbo-charged these days, there isnt that much room engine wise between a 2.0 4 banger and the V6T, that 2.0 petrol engine will easily do more then the standard 200hp, considering alfa also ship it in 280hp form. An NA V6 wouldnt make any sense, and a smaller V6 (say 2.5 litre) turbo would easily be modded to approach QV levels of performance.Honestly, i wouldnt mind that auto box as long as it comes with flappy paddles, and considering the 159 topped out with a 260hp engine, i dont think 280 is bad for a non-QV top model. Do remember that historically Alfa had quite a few models which topped out with a 1.6/2.0 4 banger (like the previous giulia).
Would a NA V6 make for a more interesting car? sure, but it'd get eaten alive by cheaper 2.0 turbos on performance, and downsizing is a reality these days, hell, BMW will soon be rolling out 3 cilinder engines to the mini and 1 series range...
TNH said:
Sounds brave/ stupid pricing them above the equivalent German rivals.
Especially as it sounds like it is down on power compared to them like for like? ie the 150hp diesel is a rival for a 318d not a 320d.
I thought the same thing for the 180 bhp diesel against the C250d which is 204 bhp when it should sit against the C220d with 170 bhp.Especially as it sounds like it is down on power compared to them like for like? ie the 150hp diesel is a rival for a 318d not a 320d.
They rerally need to get their dealerships to up their game, they were shocking when I had a new 159. They also need to make sure they're competitive on contract hire with all of the major leasing companies otherwise they're pissing in the wind in the fleet sector which is the biggest market for this.
It does look rather nice though!
[quote=Vitorio]
Isnt the interval 3 years for JTDs? Alfa might have overstated the belt longevity initially, right now every specialist recommends a belt swap every 3 years on every alfa engine, and im looking at 60K miles for a JTD 16v.
cannot remember really but they did all the engine work on warranty...what they also did when i went to pick it up was manage to drop the car off the post jack, causing a month's worth of bodywork repair...never had i ever seen a sales person so flustered as the lady they chose to tell me about the damage!
Isnt the interval 3 years for JTDs? Alfa might have overstated the belt longevity initially, right now every specialist recommends a belt swap every 3 years on every alfa engine, and im looking at 60K miles for a JTD 16v.
cannot remember really but they did all the engine work on warranty...what they also did when i went to pick it up was manage to drop the car off the post jack, causing a month's worth of bodywork repair...never had i ever seen a sales person so flustered as the lady they chose to tell me about the damage!
ZesPak said:
robemcdonald said:
Prices date a premium over the establishment? What does that premium get you? More equipment? Not really. More power? No. A better dealer experience? Not unless thing between now and launch. This is going to have to be a hell of a drive to make sense.
Again, prices are for the automatics compared to the manuals of the competition. Prices are actually very similar or even undercut them.What it offers you though is something different and probably a lot more exclusive.
If anything only offering one transmission option should make it cheaper. Economies of scale and all that.
Exclusive maybe, but not for the right reasons.
robemcdonald said:
In that case I'll have the manual for £2k less.... Only you can't can you?
If anything only offering one transmission option should make it cheaper. Economies of scale and all that.
Exclusive maybe, but not for the right reasons.
This isnt an economies of scale thing, manuals are being built, just not in RHD, hence the UK only getting autos. Apparently they dont think the market is big enough to bother with converting a manual over to RHD.If anything only offering one transmission option should make it cheaper. Economies of scale and all that.
Exclusive maybe, but not for the right reasons.
And AT boxes will still be more expensive then manuals, no matter the scale.
Jimmy Recard said:
kambites said:
Which is fine if you would be buying an automatic from the competition but not much use if you'd be buying a manual.
In the same way that quoting the price of the manual rivals isn't helpful if you would be buying am automatic.Either way. Those prices don't appear to be like for like unless they actually are the prices for automatics
Comparing prices between models is very difficult. robemcdonald said:
In that case I'll have the manual for £2k less.... Only you can't can you?
If anything only offering one transmission option should make it cheaper. Economies of scale and all that.
Exclusive maybe, but not for the right reasons.
Nope. Just like they don't produce a coupe. Or a convertible. Or an estate.If anything only offering one transmission option should make it cheaper. Economies of scale and all that.
Exclusive maybe, but not for the right reasons.
This is the car they've chose to offer. And indeed, if it's being compared to the manuals of rivals, it's actually a very good price.
Comparing like for like is always difficult though, these "starting from" prices are ridiculous.
Take Lexus for example, the difference between their fully loaded model and the base one is often about 10k, which equates to a couple of sensible options on an Audi.
Vitorio said:
This isnt an economies of scale thing, manuals are being built, just not in RHD, hence the UK only getting autos. Apparently they dont think the market is big enough to bother with converting a manual over to RHD.
And AT boxes will still be more expensive then manuals, no matter the scale.
except in the US, where A/T is the norm and manual box is a cost option!And AT boxes will still be more expensive then manuals, no matter the scale.
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