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Anyone else think worried by how poor Giulia sales are?

25K views 275 replies 68 participants last post by  cue2 
#1 ·
I was looking at stats for sales of the Giulia in Ireland and noticed they only sold 1 in April. Obviously that is abysmal but not that surprising considering they have 5 dealers and do no advertising. I reckoned it would at least be better in the UK.

https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/car-registrations/

Alfa sales are almost exactly the same as last year despite increasing their model range by 50% with an entry to one of the biggest selling categories out there. Even the Giuliettas facelift has made no difference. Not looking good for the future is it?
 
#3 ·
Have noticed the dealer demo cars are not selling either. Some have been on Autotrader for months the prices are coming down quite quickly, £7000 discount offered on some new models cant be helping!
Whether its good or bad will depend on what ARUK were forecasting. The Stelvio has a better chance of doing the numbers everyone seems to want SUV's at the moment.
Used Giulia's for £15k by the end of the year?
 
#19 ·
The problem isn't dealer demos; rather it appears that initial dealer stock isn't selling because the likes of us i.e. you and me, want a car exactly to our own spec and so won't buy anything off the showroom floor. Most dealers seem to have about 6 cars that haven't moved since launch implying that cars like Giulia are very spec. dependant. But for those who are more concerned about price than exact spec., I'm sure some great deals are to be had on new cars...
 
#4 ·
In the UK, as I experience it anyway, there is minimal advertising, limited social media engagement, they've cocked up their own UK product spec, they haven't done anything to adapt to the £40k tax threshold, and what little PR they do seems exclusively focused on a £60k halo car rather than using that to lead sales. So really they kind of have it coming. I have a very low opinion of certain people at ARUK.

That said, it's early days, it's effectively a cold start, you've barely been able to take delivery of some of the model range yet, and many sales will be led by buyers seeing the cars on the road, on their neighbours' drives, etc, so you would expect slow early adoption followed by increasing interest.

What concerns me in particular is squandering an early lead in terms of very positive press coverage and reviews. Eventually the rest of the world will catch up, and probably as well, review scores will decline over time as they always have for Alfa. So they need to get it right while they have the chance.
 
#10 ·
Heh. Touche. What I mean is you can walk into any dealership and immediately get £5k off list without even trying. Almost every buyer will get that, presumably. Many dealers offer more. So list and available discount could be simultaneously reduced to avoid the tax. The problem with that is some numpty would say, hey, I can get 20% off list at BMW so I expect it here. Something has to give though.
 
#9 ·
Getting cars on the road and seen , in attractive wheel and colour specs, would be a good idea and better value than advertising. OK, you don't want oversupply early on to spoil the residuals once people are ready to buy them used but there doesn't appear to be any supply. With solittle awareness there's unlikely to be latent demand if cars are unleashed from where they're hiding. Fiat has enough suppliers and related companies to lease cars to and get them driving around.
 
#16 ·
The Mito is dead. No successor is planned and the base Punto is dead and has been for some time. The Giulietta continues and will be replaced by an SUV. It's well past it's peak but still attractive enough for me to buy a new one in a high spec earlier this year. The Giulia should be out there creating a halo effect for the range but it isn't. This is disappointing as it creates very little momentum for the Stelvio. The 4C was supposed to do something but had too little relevance or potential to actually sell. Perhaps the Stelvio is more of what people want; a variation on the Porsche sportSUV?
 
#21 ·
Stelvio is definitely thought to be the volume winner, especially in certain markets, but the whole 'jam tomorrow' idea of the next car being the important one is a dangerous game to get stuck in. It's procrastination.

I think there's some tricky to define relationship between Giulia and Stelvio that means the latter couldn't sell at all without the former at least existing and getting critical praise. I don't really understand how important volume Giulia sales are seen as being - sedans as a whole are in a weird place these days - but at the very least, as you say, they need to be doing their best to shift Giulia now otherwise Stelvio is going to disappoint on the same basis, regardless of everything else.
 
#20 ·
Those of us on here are not typical customers, agreed. There are a bulk of customers who need a new car and chose between 3series or A4 etc and they lease something off a stock list. Alfa should be supplying their dealers with specs that appeal. Black and dark blue with apologetic wheels will not move from the showroom, obviously. Retail private sales are a small percentage of the mix.
 
#22 ·
Picking up on some of the above It strikes me it's a combination (comedy ?) of errors.

This is a car which for the first time in a while is an almost caveat free competitor to highly established competition and yet ....

It is poorly advertised, positive coverage is not being leveraged, duff cars have been handed out to some media outlets, nobody as far as I can tell is yet running one in the media as a long termer, its ridiculously priced at RRP and the dealer network has virtually no kerb appeal to support these prices as regards attracting conquest sales from the more well trodden brand paths.

Stelvio I think will appeal to a wider demographic. It is clearly a good car judging by early reviews. The problem again is that the overall experience vs the competition is sub-par. Selling to Alfisti is not enough. Having recently sold a Macan Turbo I can say categorically that the Porsche dealer experience and all the psychology that sits behind making the punter feel comfortable with parting with his/her cash is in another league.

In summary it seems like it is very much a combination of lack of £££ plus lack of ambition/thought.


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#23 ·
A friend ,working for Pistonheads , was at the QV Giulia launch at Balocco and he told me the day after that Harald Wester had described the car as their "last chance". He was moved to a different job within FCA and replaced by a Mr Bigland. With Mercedes doing emotional design this means Alfa must do beautiful cars that look right in every version. There is always the autoblu market for them but if style is a main selling point they must choose a good spec for stock. When I collected my new Giulietta the salesman explained how at the facelift launch Alfa sent the dealers a dull metallic blue 1.6 diesel automatic with red leather interior in large numbers without really being asked. Perhaps the Giulia is having similar issues.
 
#24 ·
I drive about 2,500 miles/month around Oxfordshire (mostly not in my Giulia, regrettably) and have been pleasantly surprised recently just how many Giuliettas I meet every day, even saw two different 4c on the same day last week! Mind, I see several Teslas every day and have already seen a new Tesla SUV (whatever it's called).
 
#27 · (Edited)
No, The Giulia is doing fine in Europe and it has just started catching up in the US (outsold the XE last month). Yes - for UK sales are a bit slow, but there isn't any advertisement out there for it to sell, I think FCA just don't care about the RHD market anymore. Also about 40-50% of sold Giulias are QV. And what do people expect - to outsell the 3 series?...please, the car is doing great just by outselling XE and that Volvo model.

The truth is that AR relys more on the SUV (Stelvio + upcoming bigger SUV), but it was necessary to release the Giulia first. It is an image niche car carrying that historical name. The Stelvio is more of a consumers car.
 
#28 ·
No, The Giulia is doing fine in Europe and it has just started catching up in the US (outsold the XE last month). Yes - for UK sales are a bit slow, but there isn't any advertisement out there for it to sell, I think FCA just don't care about the LHD market anymore. Also about 40-50% of sold Giulias are QV. And what do people expect - to outsell the 3 series?...please, the car is doing great just by outselling XE and that Volvo model.

The truth is that AR relys more on the SUV (Stelvio + upcoming bigger SUV), but it was necessary to release the Giulia first. It is an image niche car carrying that historical name. The Stelvio is more of a consumers car.
Two write-downs for the price of one there: Giulia and all RHD.

Either way, what happens when the Stelvio and/or some other future product doesn't sell well in the UK either? What does it require before you would be willing to say that something is wrong with the approach?

Also that 50% of cars sold are the halo model is bonkers in itself. If 50% of 3 Series volume was made up by the M3, something would be wrong, wouldn't it?
 
#30 ·
I doubt the Stelvio will make much of a dent in the SUV market. Bottom line is most consumers think Alfas are unreliable rubbish and it will take ages for that impression to change. They have made a start and it seems like they are committed to keep going so hopefully it will work out long term. Short term we have rare wonderful cars that only the reckless few are willing to take a chance on. Works for me.
 
#32 ·
Bottom line is most consumers think Alfas are unreliable rubbish and it will take ages for that impression to change.
Yep! Just got back from the local chippy. Parked the Brera outside. The proprietor said " love the Brera mate, always wanted one but didn't want the hassle. Guess you've had all the usual Alfa problems with it?"

Top Gear has a lot to answer for.
 
#31 ·
Were that the case (no interest in RHD), they would just pull out of the market. Making both LHD and RHD cars - UK, Aus, SA at least - costs serious money so if they didn't think there was a business case they wouldn't be doing it. After all, they spent about $1bn on the Dart and Chrysler 200 and then canned them both. They're not averse to taking action.

Italy did the right thing, and launched with a halo product - indeed, built the whole thing around it -
instead of trying to bolt one on later a la the GTAs. The QF is a product that literally sells itself and Alfa would have to actively sabotage sales to stop it. The lesser Giulias aren't so far off that state either but generally need a helping hand. That seems to be a bit lacking. Hence 50% QF.
 
#34 ·
As good as the Giulia's auto box is, I cannot help but feel they have alienated a large proportion of RHD customers by not offering a proper manual gearbox.

I know I would sooner have a manual if I could...
 
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#37 · (Edited)
Why are people commenting on a sales drop for March to April? March is usually the biggest month for sales.

I'm starting to think that fans here were having delusional expectations for how much the car should sell. The Giulia is doing fine just by the fact that it is outselling it's Lexus, Volvo, Jag rivals. Expecting anything like coming close to the germany trio sales in near future is pure fantasy. The Stelvio is doing better in terms of a start than the Giulia as expected.
Giulias growth in the US is great as seen on the graph posted by Giorget2
Can't figure out what people expected? I honestly am suprised that they manage to outsell IS, S60 and XE after being an almost dead brand for quite some time.

May sales for Italy have been released. Car has sold 1339 units only there, compared to March which was 887. There is still information to be released about all of EU for May.

AR is doing quite fine and it is growing. Fans should stop worrying and give it some time.
 
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