Coeur d’ Alene is a small sleepy city in north Idaho with a population of about 50,000 people. It’s nestled between mountains and a large alpine lake and serves as a summer playground for boating enthusiasts and a winter wonderland for ski bunnies. Its downtown is lined with mom-and-pop shops and locally owned restaurants.
Not much happens in Coeur d’ Alene, but it’s a popular escape from the crowds of Southern California and Western Washington. Aside from the mansions lining the lake, there’s no real indication that Coeur d’ Alene is a city with money. In fact, driving through town suggests quite the opposite.
So you can imagine my surprise when I drove by a dealership, in a part of town surrounded by convenience stores and fast-food joints, lined with row after row of Maseratis and Alfa Romeos.
You know those large Toyota dealers in big urban areas that are packed with acres of cars? That’s how this dealership looked. It was an exceptionally out-of-place sight and left me wondering why all those cars are there and who’s buying them.
I looked to Google for the answer.
I didn’t find any specific answers about the Coeur d’ Alene quandary, but I did find this good piece of info from The Truth About Cars. They said,
The Alfa Romeo Giulia lineup has been available since the tail end of 2016. And every month, right through the spring and into the summer, stories of breakdowns and limp-home modes and on-track failures had no apparent impact on increased demand.
July 2017 was the Alfa Romeo Giulia’s best month on the U.S. market to date.
Expectations for growth are the norm when it comes to newly released vehicles. Alfa Romeo’s situation is unique, however, in that the Giulia is not a replacement product for an established nameplate and Alfa Romeo is a relatively unknown entity in North America. The dealer network is small, and there’s no potential to bring in loyal owners with trade-ins of any vehicle, other than owners of 23-year-old 164s.
Sales are increasing, but that’s all relative, because Alfa sold only 1,104 Giulias in July, up from just 70 in January. That’s not a lot of cars in the world of nationwide sales numbers, but the growth does suggest that Americans are ready for Italian competition to the Germans and Japanese. In fact, the Giulia even outsold competition from Cadillac, Jaguar, Buick, and Volvo.
I don’t know what Alfa Romeo dealerships look like in your neck of the woods, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that most of those 1,104 sales happened right here in tiny little Coeur d’ Alene.
Would you buy an Alfa Romeo over a more established luxury brand?
-tgriffith
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