It was my colleague with whom I shared a jubilant moment. To the hereditary Ras-Alfist I said: "Have you seen him, that trailer with packed Giulias?" I received the answer that my colleague's father-in-law would soon test drive the Giulia.” My father-in-law has been driving for a long time Alfa Romeo. And is very curious. Nice huh?"
There is a world of difference between contemplating and doing these days - and certainly in a period where the private individual is weighing up more than ever and weighing the money to be spent on it. Between car emotion and forced experience too. Where is the decision margin within the business market, you will then ask yourself? This lies between limited lease budgets, addition and maximum emission standards, which employers want to conform to. Nowadays, more than ever, the car is chosen by hand. With cool residual value calculations. Literally and figuratively, a car is a safe choice. And to pick it up somewhat, various manufacturers have been launching the Outdoor variants for several years. Forced adventurous life-style that is stuck on a solid basis from the same base.
Femme Fatal character versus forced buy motive
The real adventure is in the fiery spectrum between sensation, disappointment, excitement and sentiment and design sophistication. In a challenging Femme Fatale character. In a thin passionate dividing line between hate and love. And not in wide plastic edges on the wheel arch edges. Or in an increase set. Or a button that tells you that you can ride on different types of surfaces while the first ditch is already a bridge too far. Lifestyle, adventure ... The same applies to premium. Every manufacturer wants to be premium. And offer. With today's Germans as an example. The adage still applies that premium and German are the best of both worlds. Das war ein mal. Just talk to employees of universal garages. Then you know enough. But whole tribes still believe in Teutonic flawlessness. That has existed, as I still notice during reports. But, to my regret, it is over. Past perfect tense.
Connected forever
Within this sentiment must Alfa Romeo to recapture her special place. A place that used to be occupied by the Giulia, the Berlina, the Bertone and the Alfetta. Never flawless in terms of technique and sheet metal, but the owner was assured of buckets full of temperament and accepted imperfections in the bargain. Meanwhile forever linked to the DNA material that Alfa from that first embrace. Connected to a brand, too, whose quality kept improving.
Apparent arguments
The Alfa DNA is back. But what we mainly know after the launch of the Giulia is that a form of found ratio is increasingly predominant among the critical car follower. Things like “Not so nicely finished, wind noise, rattles, no automatic transmission (!) in the entry-level version” are regularly discussed. Yes, you read that right. And just read it. It is about Alfa and we are talking about “No automatic in the entry-level version.” That outpouring in particular indicates what emotion means in new cars today. It is lack of courage, with false arguments. For a dime at rank one, moreover. The already established choice of the critics for the umpteenth V60, 3-series or A4 justifies my fear of Alfa's survival. And that fear was reinforced by an outpouring of my colleague, the Alfist in heart and soul.
Silent silence
I asked him - a few months after I had seen the trailer with packed Giulias - whether his father-in-law had Alfahad put the newcomer to the test. “Ja". However, the worrying look that accompanied the answer betrayed disaster. "Erik, he also visited the Volvo dealer. And he does not hide his enthusiasm about a Volvo Cross Country version."It became quiet, very quiet. I felt an unpleasant kind of dryness in my throat. My colleague and I spread my arms in the air. We were the only ones. Felt powerless. Because no one understood why we both shrouded ourselves in a significant silence.