[toby2449]

.......could the last person out the door please turn off the lights.....

Alfa have started the year "poorly", 9 registrations so far in january (wonder how many genuine sales!) begs the question is there any furture for the brand in this country? BMW by the way have sold 400+ cars in January!

Obviously our emissions based VRT system isn't helping matters, & the fact that as far as i can see you can't get info on alfa's site for emissions on any of its cars probably says the whole story.

But i wonder does anyone in Alfa Ireland (or most likely Fiat Ireland) know what they are doing?

There are now just 6 dealers in the whole of Ireland, if you live in the midlands or west, don't even think about buying one, there are no dealerships & no official service agents anywhere close. I grew up in Dublin & around clontarf/fairview the housing estates looked like an Italian car park. Sweeney & Forte were a fantastic dealer, now sadly they sell used cars, they lost the franchise due to the fact they weren't going to spend the reputed €10m to bring their premises up to the required standards a few years ago. Coopers in Sligo have gone, their new premises & very good staff weren't enough to save them from closeure in 2009. But have Alfa done anything to get a dealership that isn't on the east coast, or way down south??

Can anyone recall the last time they saw an Alfa ad, even when the MiTo was new??

To my mind, Alfa make no effort in this market, what do the execs in Alfa Ireland do exactly to justify their wages.

Anyone from Alfa Ireland on this site i wonder?

 

[NordicI55]

Alfas Market Share in Ireland for January is just .06% (9 Alfa Sales/14,237 total sales), in the UK Alfa sold 9,067 cars in 2009 a Market Share of .45%. If Alfa Romeo Ireland could match Alfa UK it would have had to sell 64 Alfas in January, hardly a huge ask, in particular, with a new fuel efficent model like the Mito available.
Imo Alfa need dedicated dealers, 2 in Dublin (one Northside 1 Southside, and then a dealer in Waterford, Cork, Limerick, Galway, Sligo and Athlone there are only enough potential sales to support around 8 dealers. They also need to spend some budget on informing the public about what is a decent range of cars, in particular, the 159 and Mito.

 

[toby2449]

so, next big car for Alfa as we all know is the Guilietta, question is will Alfa Ireland market it right here (or at all!) will we get the fuel efficent low Co2 engines Alfa need in order to get sales...surely Alfa can't **** this up!?

what Alfa should do is try to keep customers, not us lot, we all buy their cars anyway, but they need to make owners feel they are buying a brand, not just a car, they got very close when they launched "my Alfa" but that seemed to die a death very quickly, Alfa Ireland seemed not to have the heart to continue it. I'm on Alfa's mailing list for updates, i've never received any mail or e-mails. I wonder of all the folk in this country who bought a new MiTo,147,159, GT, Brera & Spider, how many when they come to change their car will go back to an Alfa dealership, or head straight towards BMW/Audi/Merc etc...indeed does Alfa have any loyal customers (i'm excluding us lot here guys! - I'm taking about the average Alfa owner)

 

[10500RPM]

I was in Moville (Co. Donegal) last week and I noticed a few Mitos (the first ones I have ever seen!) sitting outside a Fiat dealer, maybe they can supply cars without beong official dealers

 

[CCOVICH]

If he is selling MiTo's, he isn't advertising the fact.

How a Fiat dealer has lasted that long in Moville of all places, I'll never know. There isn't even a BMW dealer in Donegal anymore!

 

[10500RPM]

If he is selling MiTo's, he isn't advertising the fact.

How a Fiat dealer has lasted that long in Moville of all places, I'll never know. There isn't even a BMW dealer in Donegal anymore!

I can't remember the name of the dealer, the showroom is white/ minimalistic and very modern looking and the rest of the town is stuck in a 1970's timewarp :lol:

**edit, I just looked at the link, that's the place I was talking about

 

[NordicI55]

Theres a 2009 silver Mito on Joesph Dohertys Used Car list, were the Mitos used or new?

 

[10500RPM]

Theres a 2009 silver Mito on Joesph Dohertys Used Car list, were the Mitos used or new?

Unsure, there were three of them iirc, there is defintily a red/ burgundy one (dull day) and possibly a black one, he is based on a s-bend so I didn't get a good look. I'll call in with him when the 156 is back on the road and see if he's selling cars/ parts, a local dealer would be a real big help for me.

 

[David P]

Speaking of Alfa Romeo Advertising in Ireland, see here http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/repu...n-an-alfa-romeo-mito-ireland.html#post3188082

 

[Dermo]

Speaking of Alfa Romeo Advertising in Ireland, see here http://www.alfaowner.com/Forum/repu...n-an-alfa-romeo-mito-ireland.html#post3188082

Would you stop advertising the advertising .... I want to win it :rant:

 

[toby2449]

I was in Moville (Co. Donegal) last week and I noticed a few Mitos (the first ones I have ever seen!) sitting outside a Fiat dealer, maybe they can supply cars without beong official dealers

na, according to my understanding from working in the industry, only a franchised dealer can supply new vehicles, unless Fiat have agreed otherwise with this dealer in order to get sales anywhere they can without a dealership going through the huge expense of upgrading showrooms etc...

 

[David P]

na, according to my understanding from working in the industry, only a franchised dealer can supply new vehicles, unless Fiat have agreed otherwise with this dealer in order to get sales anywhere they can without a dealership going through the huge expense of upgrading showrooms etc...

I don't think that is true as a few of the local garages ( none have franchises for any brand ) have sold new cars/jeeps from different manufacturers in the past. Also many of the Alfas sold in Munster in the past have been bought new through a few of the Fiat Dealerships ( most are authorised Alfa Service agents though AFAIK ).

 

[David P]

Would you stop advertising the advertising .... I want to win it :rant:

Well someone has to do some advertising for Alfa in Ireland :lol:

 

[Mysterio]

Well someone has to do some advertising for Alfa in Ireland :lol:

you could get a job :cheese:

 

[NordicI55]

:d

 

[Dermo]

Well someone has to do some advertising for Alfa in Ireland :lol:

Ok but a Bit quiter please :cheese:

 

[GTV Gav]

Well someone has to do some advertising for Alfa in Ireland :lol:

I heard my first ever Alfa ad today so at least they have been listening to us!

I heard it on Phantom FM and it was for the MiTo Multi-Air and yer one bas banging on about how fuel efficient the engine was. So at least they are trying to make an effort!

 

[toby2449]

ah yes Phantom FM, Pat The Baker (who i work for) uses them, good little station. Hopefully Alfa/Fiat might start to advertise more, no point trying to sell cars if no-one knows you're out there!!

& the Muti-air engine is the dogs b******s it really should sell well with our VRT system!!

C'MON ALFA PULL YER FINGER OUT!!!!

 

[GTV Gav]

Well someone has to do some advertising for Alfa in Ireland :lol:

ah yes Phantom FM, Pat The Baker (who i work for) uses them, good little station. Hopefully Alfa/Fiat might start to advertise more, no point trying to sell cars if no-one knows you're out there!!

& the Muti-air engine is the dogs b******s it really should sell well with our VRT system!!

C'MON ALFA PULL YER FINGER OUT!!!!

I heard that add all the time, I think Pat even sponsors a bit on it, bit random but I like it!!

 

[SimonDublin]

I heard that add all the time, I think Pat even sponsors a bit on it, bit random but I like it!!

Hello all,

Long time reader, first time poster!

Funnily enough, I work on Phantom where the Mito ads are and of course I drive an Alfa 156, the life story and adventures of which has been told many times on air. My Alfa is very well looked after by a regular midlands based poster on here too!

And long may the Alfa ads continue, that is one of the first car ads we have had running on air in months which is a huge change from 2 years ago.

Yay for Pat the baker too by the way, I heartily endorse his product, service or event

Simon