Comments on: Alfa to share platforms, dealerships with Jaguar?

By: bigp

bigp — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:34:18 +0000

cant wait to see what comes out of this

By: SS4LIFE

SS4LIFE — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:01:41 +0000

ATTENTION EVERYONE. As of todau 3/26/08 I will no longer be posting comments on here due to the lack of maturity, and problems of whoever is using our LLN handles and trying to impersonate me and anyone else, and therefore causing problems.

If any comments after this post are said by my handle, they will have a hyperlink to a gay porn site (Do not click on it) and are deemed offensive to anyone just know it wasn’t said by the real me. After using LLN over the past 7 months, it’s sad it’s come to this. Good luck everyone.

By: SS4LIFE

SS4LIFE — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:32:54 +0000

WTF??? Ok **** YOU WHOEVER YOU ARE THAT IS DOING THIS. We all know it’s you LP so get a life and go do something productive for once in your life!

By: SS4LIFE

SS4LIFE — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:37:53 +0000

Surely these cars only sell on the coasts anyway

By: global_lightning

global_lightning — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:21:37 +0000

Ford and Chrysler are squeezing out under-performing dealerships. This may be an opportunity to establish an independent Fiat/Alfa Romeo/Maserati/Ferrari/Jaguar/Land Rover operation.

By: sharpie

sharpie — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 05:44:05 +0000

Agree with MurcieMe and johnnycanuck. Using an existing dealer network is a smart move for Fiat to minimize cost initially. With the weak dollars and car prices being lower than Europe, why would Fiat want to further increase the starting-up or re-entering cost for the N.A. market?

I also fail to see the “redundant vehicles” analogy. Sharing platform doesn’t have to result in redundant vehicles. Here are a couple examples: Mazda3 / Volvo C30 (two cars of similar size, serving different class of customer) or Toyota Highlander / Camry (Same platform used for an SUV and a car).

That is different than “badge engineering” or simply rebadging a car with minor cosmetic change under different brands (See the entire Mercury brand! G5/Cobalt, Outlook/Acadia/Enclave, Compass/Caliber). LLN knows better than making dumb statement like that.

By: johnnycanuck

johnnycanuck — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:36:13 +0000

GM, Ford and Chrysler have spent their history force feeding badge engineering on the unsuspecting and gullible public. LLN’s remark has so little to do with the subject matter they might as well have been talking about pussy farts affecting the ozone layer.

By: MurcieMe

MurcieMe — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:48:41 +0000

What on earth are they getting at with “it’s not always a smart move to sell redundant vehicles under one roof.”?? What redundant vehicles could there possibly be in either a Jag / Land Rover / Alfa dealership or ANY Alfa / Big Three dealership?

Selling the 8C with the XKR is nowhere near the same thing as Chrysler selling one car under three brands. WTF?

By: autonut

autonut — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:30:10 +0000

I have to agree with 400horses. 15 or 20 years ago Alfa left US not because of impeccable product reputation. About same time Jaguar cars were given along with hard to sell apartments in NYC (apparently it was much more laborious task to sell Jaguars).

By: 400horseSS

400horseSS — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 02:21:25 +0000

(Sarcasm)2 very reliable car companies.

By: SS4LIFE

SS4LIFE — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 00:28:49 +0000

Preferably I’d rather see an Italian auto company having it’s cars at a showroom with other Italian auto companies. Just as many Maseratis are shown off at Ferrari dealerships, even though that may be due to the dual ownership and deal with Fiat. However it sure would make my shopping experience pleasant if I was looking at an Alfa Romeo that had a Ferrari on the other side of the showroom. Certainly wouldn’t hurt Alfa’s image any more now would it?

By: DeansterTJ

DeansterTJ — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:59:39 +0000

“However, just as Chrysler has learned, it’s not always a smart move to sell redundant vehicles under one roof.”

Ooooohhh, the ominous warnings of the LLN staffers. Take heed automotive execs, the wise gooch has spoken

By: jayjc08

jayjc08 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 22:52:37 +0000

Oh boy. We’ll just have to wait this one out for a while and see. I’d rather not have Fiat with Land Rover and Jaguar, by the way. I think they’ll be fine just the way they are, keep them that way or independent. They don’t need to share any platforms with any other vehicles, just keep your paws off, I’m already sick to my stomach of platform sharing. Come up with something creative yourselves, or get out of the business.