How is the image of Lancia, Alfa, Fiat...in your country?

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

Once the image, the reputation of Italian everyday use cars in not very good in Spain and in the UK. For instance, in the UK, the value of a second hand Alfa Romeo is the half of a equivalent VW with the same age......Id like to get your opinion about the image of any Italian everyday use make such as Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat in your country and some experience of someone if he or she has already had any mark commented above

[RC45]

In South Africa they had the reputation for a sporty nature but ZERO reliability and would rust in a desert - as well as develop electrical problems for no reason... :)

Lancia had a similar reputation - and until the Delta Integrale arrived - was known for the weird looking Fulvia - and ther as alwatys a weird loner that kept to himself and restored Lancia down the block in every neighbour hood.. :P

I am almost sure they have the same reputation here in the states.

[T-Bird]

First off these topics are kind of stupid

But in the States there is NO image they don't exactly exist around here, some really old Alfa's but that's it.

[666fast]

I am almost sure they have the same reputation here in the states.


Pretty much. Most people here don't know they even exist, as they haven't sold cars here in quite awhile.

The cars were unreliable, but the biggest kick in the nuts was the dealer networks. They sucked and they all shot themselves in the foot with them. If the car broke, that means it was broken untill parts arrived from Italy. If I buy a brand new car, I don't want it to take two weeks to get fixed. Ultimately, people stopped from buying them.
Lots of people still buy them though, as they are becoming collector cars. A guy at another forum I visit has a Fiat X-19 and just bought a Fiat 128. Both of which cars I'd like to have, but Minnesota winters makes that impossible at the moment. They would fall to pieces and I have no where to store them.

[sameerrao]

In South Africa they had the reputation for a sporty nature but ZERO reliability and would rust in a desert - as well as develop electrical problems for no reason... :)

Lancia had a similar reputation - and until the Delta Integrale arrived - was known for the weird looking Fulvia - and ther as alwatys a weird loner that kept to himself and restored Lancia down the block in every neighbour hood.. :P

I am almost sure they have the same reputation here in the states.

Lancia = Spontanious combustion according to Jeremy Clarkson :D

Fiat is absent here in the US. Lancia is dead and gone. So is Alfa along with numerous other "everyday car" Euro brands - Peugeot, Renault, Rover, MG, etc...

[68-998]

No Fiats or Lancias here in Oz. Alfa's aren't very popular and like the other Euro brands like Peugeot, Renault and Citroen are a bit pricey and don't hold their resale value too well.

[Mers]

Pretty much. Most people here don't know they even exist


Same here in Brazil...for lancia and alfa...

However, brazil is the second biggest Fiat market there is...after italy itself...

Fiat is VERY well established here, and most of their cars are liable alternatives to VW, ford and Chevrolet..the 4 biggest car companies in brazil....

[caugb]

Come on, Mers, where are you from? Not Sao Paulo (like NY in USA, where the money/banks/stock exchanges are).

Lancia, I agree, doesn't exist here in Brazil.

But Alfas are sold as an alternative to BMWs, obviously not successfully. Most Alfa dealers are a "premium" part of a FIAT dealer, imagine how bad this is for its image.
For costs reasons, Alfas were sold in Brazil until 2 years ago with the 2.0 4 cilinder engine, too weak to compare to BMWs I6, Audis I4 turbos or V6 and Mercs Kompressor and V6s.
Resale value is half BMWs and brand new, it costs about 80% of BMWs, the local luxury brand reference. But I admit that this is basically for Sao Paulo and Rio. The rest of the country almost never heard about Alfas.

Regarding FIATs, here they use the powertrain of GM in many models, as part of the "association" (better saying, buy option) between them. The opposite does not happen (FIATs engines in GMs cars).

[23790554]

I have to disagree with 68-998 about Alfa's reputation in Australia, well in Sydney anyway.

Alot of people buy Alfa just because its Italian, I mean, look at 147GTA and the new Coupe. They look much better compare to Jap cars.

Resale value of Alfa is also not bad, I think its about 70% after 3 years.

No lancia or fiat dealers though, but I have seen several private import Fiat Coupe.

[Mers]

Come on, Mers, where are you from?


actually yes, sao paulo...
but the alfas are pretty expensive, and most ppl don't buy them..since there is only one shit store (alfa romeo studio)...if they were smart enough to bring the gt, 147gta or the new 156, they would sell a bit more...
but i admit that there are quite a lot of them...
but I have NEVER seen 1/4 as many alfas out of SP.... which is too bad

[sameerrao]

I want to hear Dan \/6's view - he is an Alfa man! Alfa's are great drivers cars...

[gbg]

i guess only 0.1% of the brazilian people has enough money to buy the cheapest alfa... :lol:
so brand new alfas are kind of dream cars for brazilians

fiat sells very well here, but some people still think that they produce fragile cars

[fedezyl]

Well here it's about the same as in Brazil or Argentina, Fiat is very well stablished and as far as powertrain and mechanical elements they are very reliable, bodywork is kinda okish, late ones are ok, but 1980's fiats were hideous, they would rust and vanish in no time. As far as Alfa's go, my dad has a 146 Ti in mint condition, and other than regular maintenance it's been so far ok, I have an old 1971 Giulia and mechanicaly it's a very robust design...

[tigerx]

well in my circle of friends, which only have 2 serious gearhead, me and one other guy, and he have no idea bout those brand, i haven't met anyone at work or at school that know lancia, shame.

[Fleischmann]

Alfa Romeo is a pretty exclusive car manufacturer here, the get a lot of glances hen strolling down the street.

Fiat's are the best selling cars in Poland. So they are liked here, coz they are cheap.

Lancia's...very rare. If ya see one it is either "government property" or on CD plates.

Keep in mind that Poland is very poor compared to other EU (and not only) countries :(

[oldsnail]

after the 80's.. they dont seem to exist in canada..
the odd fiat pops up once in a while to enthusiist

[Regie]

In South Africa they had the reputation for a sporty nature but ZERO reliability and would rust in a desert - as well as develop electrical problems for no reason... :)

Lancia had a similar reputation - and until the Delta Integrale arrived - was known for the weird looking Fulvia - and ther as alwatys a weird loner that kept to himself and restored Lancia down the block in every neighbour hood.. :P

I am almost sure they have the same reputation here in the states.

Alfas had a similar reputation here in Australia, but the 156 & 147 seem to be getting more and more popular.

I considered the 147 GTA a few months ago and took it for a lenghty test drive. The cars performance is great (and the engine/exhaust note sounds pretty nice as well). BUT build quality on the interior was shocking. My test car had loose threads/stitching around the steering wheel and seats. There were big gaps in between the door inserts and overall was dissatisfied with the level of fit and finish. This was also present in other Alfas I'd looked at and wasn't a one-off case.

Pity we don't get any Lancias or Fiats over here. The only Fiat is a commercial vehicle (Ducato) and recent comments by the importer who holds the distribution rights for Fiat suggest that it won't be re-launched until 2006 (and that is being very optimistic).

Older Alfas, Fiats & Lancias are relatively active in the motorsport scene here (club level) and perform well enough.

There are a couple of the Lacia Grp B and earlier rally cars in aus, but they've been imported privately.


No Fiats or Lancias here in Oz. Alfa's aren't very popular and like the other Euro brands like Peugeot, Renault and Citroen are a bit pricey and don't hold their resale value too well.
Like, 23790554, I'm gonna have to disagree with tyhe comment by '68-998'.
Alfas seem to be getting more and more popular over the last 3-4 years. (the 156 & 147). I'd say Peugeot are doing fairly well out of the Euros (Renault's re-entry in to the local market has fizzled IMO and Citroen are taking baby steps). With regards to price, I agree that they are more expensive than the Jap counterparts, but when you take into account equipment levels and saftey , the difference is reduced (IMO). i.e. Cliosport vs Corolla or C2 vs Toyota Echo.

Peugeot did win the first Redex reliability trials in 1953.

[360modena]

Well till 90's alfa and Fiat had very bad reputations but things are changing, I know lot's of Fiat and Alfa owners that don't have any problems with their car. But in France, If Alfa is now OK, Fiat still suffer from bad reliability reputation, you know when things are anchored in minds :D. I can't says anything about Lancia cause I don't think their new orientation to luxuary car is followed by drivers.

But, in general, we can't say italians (everyday cars) are very less reliables than others cars, I'm thinking about VW, Audi that breakdown too and mainly mercedes.

[heath]

No Fiats or Lancias here in Oz. Alfa's aren't very popular and like the other Euro brands like Peugeot, Renault and Citroen are a bit pricey and don't hold their resale value too well.

sorry mate I'm gonna disagree with you aswell, here in Sydney, Alfa's are still Alfa's but they still sell, and Fiat hasn't sold new cars here for a good 20 years now, but you still see Regatta's and 124s and so on floating around the place...

and the only Lancias we get here are imports these days, I saw a Delta Integrale on a trailer the other day, and with regards to the resale value of italian cars here, they seem to do ok as far as I can see at this stage...for example: Delta Integrale = $75k for a good one. Personally I can think of diseases I'd rather have over an Italian car...

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

Exactly, i think that the Integrale is a different case, for example, the people who buy the integrale is due to a sportive car indeed, the name of the integrale on the rallying world, a car which wont to be driven for many miles a year, a car that wont be bought if someone is going to carry some children.............