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Alfa Romeo Milano

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The upcoming all new Milano is supposed to be coming over here.
Not sure yet if it will be sold as an Alfa, or rebadged as a Dodge or Chrysler.

I just hope they sell these cars under the Alfa Romeo brand. The Chrysler and Dodge brands have been pretty much worthless for years.
Do you actually now many people who really want to buy a Dodge, or a Chrysler. These brands aren’t even on the map of most buyers anymore.

Conversation 21 comments

  5. They need these now, and I'm sure dealers would like to see them in the next month, as they have little else to sell. Since Alfa has been considered for North America for several years, the products should be ready for our market.

  6. The Fiat/Chrysler brand hierarchy should be arranged like this:
    * FIAT: Small mainstream vehicles. Fiat would cover the mini-car class up to the compact class. Sedans, hatchbacks, MPVs, and CUVs would all be part of Fiat's product mix. Since Fiat is well known for their small car expertise, this brand should cover this segment in the U.S.
    * CHRYSLER: Large mainstream vehicles. Chrysler would cover the midsize to fullsize classes. Sedans, wagons, MPVs, and CUVs would all be part of the product mix. Chrysler has not truly competed in the premium segment for quite some time now. It may be better to remake the brand as a larger mainstream vehicle competitor, especially since the Chrysler brand has always been better known for their larger vehicles.
    * DODGE: Truck and affordable sports car niche brand. Dodge should be reduced to a niche brand that covers the 2 segments in which it has excelled in the past.
    * JEEP: SUV niche brand. Jeep should be returned to its roots and left alone. The Wrangler and Grand Cherokee are all the brand really needs. I would refine both products to provide a balanced blend between off-road ruggedness and practical, everyday on-road driveability.
    * ALFA ROMEO: Full-scale luxury division. Alfa Romeo should assume the top position in the brand hierarchy, utilizing the organization's platforms and technologies to produce class competitive sport luxury products.

    This reorganization would give each brand a specific purpose and mission in the market while eliminating overlap and internal competition.

  7. Rebadge an Alfa? Vince, are you on crack? Alfa will be selling their wares in the US under there own brand name FYI (though there are rumours that Dodges could be rebadged as Alfas in Europe).

  9. YOU SAID: "Do you actually now many people who really want to buy a Dodge, or a Chrysler." What do you think is Toyota's percentage of the US market? or GM's? NEITHER has anything close to even 45%. If Chrysler had even 10%; that would be hundreds of thousands of people putting down their hard-earned money on a Chrysler product. And the FACT is that Chrysler has NEVER had a percent of the US market as small at 10% — it's always (and still is) a LOT more than that. Do you know who has ALWAYS and STILL does make the most minivans (in the WORLD!). Not Honda. Not GM. Not Ford. Not Toyota. Not Nissan. Not Hyndai or Kia. It's ALWAYS been CHRYSLER. Chrysler even makes Volkswagon's minivans. They also made a lot of the rockets & other components used by NASA to put a man on the moon. THAT'S PRECISION QUALITY!. Unfortunately, engineering no longer impresses the masses. Cutesy marketing, like Toyota's Prious flower ads, or Honda's Oddessy Hippy ads are all the rage. And the FACT that the Chrysler T&C 4.0 litre gets better gas mileage than the smaller engines in the mushy Toyota or the jarringly-stiff Honda doesn't thrill the media much. But not every Buyer is an idiot. And thats why Chrysler sell more minivans than anyone — even without the availability of a HEMI.

  10. ALFA ROMEO: Full-scale luxury division. ARE U SERIOUS??? That would be like BMW having ONLY the "1-series". I see a lot of Chrysler 300's and Town & Countries in the same garages as Range Rovers, S-classes, 7-series, Escalades, and Navigators. I don't see many cars (in wealthy driveways) as tiny as an Alfa.

  11. “Anonymous said…
    YOU SAID: "Do you actually now many people who really want to buy a Dodge, or a Chrysler." What do you think is Toyota's percentage of the US market? or GM's? NEITHER has anything close to even 45%. If Chrysler had even 10%; that would be hundreds of thousands of people putting down their hard-earned money on a Chrysler product. And the FACT is that Chrysler has NEVER had a percent of the US market as small at 10% — it's always (and still is) a LOT more than that. Do you know who has ALWAYS and STILL does make the most minivans (in the WORLD!). Not Honda. Not GM. Not Ford. Not Toyota. Not Nissan. Not Hyndai or Kia. It's ALWAYS been CHRYSLER. Chrysler even makes Volkswagon's minivans. They also made a lot of the rockets & other components used by NASA to put a man on the moon. THAT'S PRECISION QUALITY!. Unfortunately, engineering no longer impresses the masses. Cutesy marketing, like Toyota's Prious flower ads, or Honda's Oddessy Hippy ads are all the rage. And the FACT that the Chrysler T&C 4.0 litre gets better gas mileage than the smaller engines in the mushy Toyota or the jarringly-stiff Honda doesn't thrill the media much. But not every Buyer is an idiot. And thats why Chrysler sell more minivans than anyone — even without the availability of a HEMI.”

    The fact that your grammar is nonexistent as is your use of paragraphs speaks loudly.

    1. I don’t know a single person who has ever even mentioned wanting a SINGLE Chrysler or Dodge.

    2. Chrysler’s minivan market share is LARGELY due to fleet sales to rental companies and government agencies. It has nothing to do with actual consumers or the PUBLIC wanting their products. The Town and Country is awful, as is the Caravan. The VW Routan is a Chrysler product, correct, and it is one of the biggest flops that the automotive industry has encountered in the past 10 years. You can’t slap a VW badge on a piece of junk and expect people to buy it. VW haven’t even come close to selling a quarter of their allotment and are now stuck with a badge engineered product that no one wants.

    3. Chrysler has “precision engineering”??? Is that a joke? Professional automotive journalists tear their vehicles apart. They ARE trash. Check Consumer Reports reliability studies and their automotive tests, Chrysler products always fall dead last. JD Power also ranks them very poorly, at the bottom of your list.

    The Honda Oddessy is a great minivan because it gives the consumer what they really want, a quality made vehicle that does everything they need WELL. The “hippy” ads actually help the van. The fact that you can pick up a one year old Caravan at Manheim auto auction for less than $10,000 says a lot.

    So let's go over this again. Chryslers minivan market share is due to FLEET SALES and nothing else. Actual consumers don't buy them.

  12. Those Chrysler V6 designed from the mid-70s precision?…Their engineers are stuck in the 60s..Fiat is stuck in the Soviet era and their CEO is a lying dead-looking freak.

  13. " I don’t know a single person who has ever even mentioned wanting a SINGLE Chrysler or Dodge." Thats quite a mystery. Either UFO's have been stealing MILLIONS of cars for DECADES — or you sir, are a hermit.

  14. "Chrysler’s minivan market share is LARGELY due to fleet sales to rental companies" REALLY??? I've rented a LOT of vehicles on business trips over the years , but NEVER ANY minivans. ( And I've owned 7 minivans back home — so I'm not against renting one — there just never seem to be any ). In fact; I'm not sure ANYONE has ANY minivan Rental Fleets, to speak of. I certainly don't see any around the airports, or the Hertz or Avis or Budget garages. Could Chrysler be selling them to ESTRA-TERRESTRIAL ALIENS!!!! That's the only possibile explaination for Chrysler to be #1 in minivan sales for 25 STRAIGHT YEARS IN A ROW (when it's so obvious that NOBODY has EVER wanted to buy one — EVER!!!)

  15. Volkswagon is selling more (Chrysler-built) minivans than (VW) has sold in years — even in an economy wher Toyota truck sales are DOWN 60% for the first quarter alone! Not that this speaks badly of Toyota Quality though — to be fair; the ONLY truck to see a sales INCREASE this year has been the Jeep Wrangler — UP 16%!!

  16. "Those Chrysler V6 designed from the mid-70s precision?…" ACTUALLY; The 1970's "slant" six was designed in the 1950's. It was so far ahead of everything else that Chrysler still used them in the 1970s — from South America to Canada and from Europe to the USA. The CURRENT V6 is a 1980's design — and the latest 4.0 version is cleaner AND more fuel efficent than Honda's newest 3.5 V6 or Toyota's similar Six. Yea, I guess Chrysler does have them beat — at least in the engineering department.. (Marketing, on the other hand…).

  17. " Anonymous said…
    "Chrysler’s minivan market share is LARGELY due to fleet sales to rental companies" REALLY??? I've rented a LOT of vehicles on business trips over the years , but NEVER ANY minivans. ( And I've owned 7 minivans back home — so I'm not against renting one — there just never seem to be any ). In fact; I'm not sure ANYONE has ANY minivan Rental Fleets, to speak of. I certainly don't see any around the airports, or the Hertz or Avis or Budget garages. Could Chrysler be selling them to ESTRA-TERRESTRIAL ALIENS!!!! That's the only possibile explaination for Chrysler to be #1 in minivan sales for 25 STRAIGHT YEARS IN A ROW (when it's so obvious that NOBODY has EVER wanted to buy one — EVER!!!)"

    Seriously?

    You must not travel, ever. EVERY SINGLE MAJOR RENTAL AGENCY HAS A MINIVAN FLEET!!!! Go to Hertz, Enterprise, Dollar, Budget, Alamo, National, etc. ALL have minivans.

    Don't be such an idiot.

    "Anonymous said…
    Volkswagon is selling more (Chrysler-built) minivans than (VW) has sold in years — even in an economy wher Toyota truck sales are DOWN 60% for the first quarter alone! Not that this speaks badly of Toyota Quality though — to be fair; the ONLY truck to see a sales INCREASE this year has been the Jeep Wrangler — UP 16%!!"

    That is because VWs Eurovan was never a success here. It didn't have dual sliding doors and it was costly because it was actually a quality product, unlike the Chrysler van. Please don't forget that they still haven't sold a quarter of their allotment yet, and still have something like a 300 day supply of junk that they can't sell.

    "Anonymous said…
    "Those Chrysler V6 designed from the mid-70s precision?…" ACTUALLY; The 1970's "slant" six was designed in the 1950's. It was so far ahead of everything else that Chrysler still used them in the 1970s — from South America to Canada and from Europe to the USA. The CURRENT V6 is a 1980's design — and the latest 4.0 version is cleaner AND more fuel efficent than Honda's newest 3.5 V6 or Toyota's similar Six. Yea, I guess Chrysler does have them beat — at least in the engineering department.. (Marketing, on the other hand…)."

    That 4.0 lump is an awful motor. I haven't seen anyone give it ANY praise. Honda's 3.5 on the other hand has garnered a lot of praise, as well as the rest of that engine series (I think it is the J series).

    The 4.0 gets better mileage IN TESTS because of the transmission programming and the extra gear. Out in the real world it is quite different, and it drives like crap. The transmission is hesistant to downshift and ruins the driving experience. I know, I had one as a rental the last time I was in Chicago on business.

    If Chrysler had anyone beat at ANYTHING they wouldn't have filed for BANKRUPTCY. They are a crap company, that produces crap products. They would have been done for a long time ago if they hadn't merged with Daimler and been able to share parts/platforms. The 300 is what saved Chrysler before, they just couldn't hold it off any longer. No innovation, no quality, no engineering. Jesus, even the upcoming Grand Cherokee is based off of the Mercedes ML.

    ALL HAIL CHRYSLER!!! Get real.

  20. Yes, I do know someone who would want a Dodge – me. I don't have to want too badly though, because I bought one. Despite their bankruptcy. My 2009 Dodge Challenger R/T is one seriously, seriously sweet piece of automobile. People gawk shamelessly at it when it drives down the street, teenagers holler approvingly at it, and even Steve Urkel could get laid in the thing. It's big, it's fast, and wonderfully, unmistakably American. I'd sooner walk than buy some worked-over Alfa Romeo with a Dodge badge that looks like little more than an overpriced Pontiac Vibe. Chrysler's shortfall was not in catering to red-blooded, blue-collar guys like me who love cars like that, but in not committing their entire product portfolio whole-heartledly to that end. I respect your opinions, Vince, but with all do respect, just because Dodge vehicles don't appeal to you and your Hollywood buddies doesn't mean that they don't appeal to me and mine here in the Heartland. They rock. And hopefully Fiat plays on that brands strengths instead of throwing them aside.

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