Lampredi said:
Well, to be fair, I seem to remember that a lot of the hype surrounding VW's new MQB architecture revolved around how it would provide VW with tremendous cost savings. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that VW's current success is primarily marketing-driven, as its cars may be good, but not that much better than the competition than what sales figures may suggest. VW even got away with a 10-year model cycle of its most important vehicle, the Golf, without anyone complaining - contrast that with how Fiat is treated when it takes its time to renew its offerings.
You can add to that the Polo, which is exactly the same car as the old generation under the skin, but with an updated suit and interior. It's all marketing, it works.
Don't get me started on Audi's and what people are willing to pay for those cars, let alone the ease with which most ignorant journalists compare them to BMWs.
Lampredi said:
I've always wondered what really made Luca DeMeo leave so abruptly, do you have any more details about this? I mean, for a while he was in fact touted as Marchionne's potential successor at Fiat, and all of a sudden he was gone - and to Volkswagen, no less!
Do you know exactly what the disagreement was about - whether Alfa Romeo would survive? Did Marchionne really intend to kill it off? Why would DeMeo want to work with Volkswagen anyway? And is he somehow involved in Volkswagen's plans to take over Alfa Romeo (I ask because the blog with the brilliant name
"Das Alfa Romeo" - run by some Italians who have the audacity to call themselves "Alfisti" despite their obvious pro-VW agenda - somehow reminds me of the old "Quelli Che Bravo" Fiat Bravo promotion blog, which I believe was a Luca DeMeo initiative)?
De Meo was promoted to head of AR after his stint at FIAT and Abarth (and Renault and Lexus before that). He drafted a plan to return AR to its former glory, mainly based on stopping the FIAT-ization of ARs and returning them to RWD and true performance, etc, etc.
SM instead had been tasked with shutting it down (the Centro stile, R&D etc in Arese were closed right before the Chrysler adventure began). He didn't buy De Meo's plan, so he (De Meo) did what executives in Europe do in this situations, which is resigning their position.
Together with De Meo a lot of AR engineers, designers, stylists left for the one company that said that they would scoop up AR and they needed them m to make it a legitimate effort (including the current VAG head of style Walter de Silva, and Audi's head of style Wolfgang Egger).
When the Chrysler deal came into the picture, the marketing people identified Jeep and Alfa as the only two brands that could be sold as premium on a global level. Alfa was saved and the whole plan to make them real ARs began to be set in motion. The sell off to VW didn't happen (not for lack of VW trying including the stupid efforts by de Silva & Co). So now all those former AR guys are left with, is trying to make Audis and other VW appliances exciting.
Maybe sooner or later people will realize that they are paying through the nose for chrono-degradable VWs with a nice-ish dress and rubbery interiors. I don't care; what I care about is that SM is being forced to make AR a true contender in the premium segment, and if the 4C is any indication he is going in the right direction.
If he doesn't do a Cherokee with the exterior of the Giulia and E segment and makes the interiors as good in perceived quality (I.e. nice plastics, satin chrome, and whatever-leather-as-long-as-its-leather just like the Germans do) then he will have a succeeded in closing this shameful 30yr stint through the mud that AR has been forced to endure, while at the same time rebalancing the positions of AR and Maserati (and hopefully down the road Chrysler/Lancia), against the admittedly nicely executed but achingly boring German products.