What matters is that the world doesn't need yet another Golf with a different badge.
We already have:
Golf Passat Octavia Superb Toledo Leon A3 TT
I really don't think there's room for any more.
Fiat give their subsidiaries more scope for individuality than VW do, so I'd prefer to see them come under the control of Fiat and start producing more individual products, rather than them churning out just another VW.
(And I say this as someone who is a fan of both Fiat and VW)
They have started doing one on the 120bhp 1.6JTD now
--=20 Alex
"I laugh in the face of danger , then I hide until it goes away"
Hmm presumably you think it's better to display bodies in gibbets rather than to bury them?
Problem is, Fiat aren't very good at what they do lately. The Panda is a good car, the 500 is good [1], but anything larger tends to be a disaster (Alfa 156/159 etc excepted).
The new Croma, for example, I've only seen one in about three years. Where did I see it? Very broken on the M58, oil and steam everywhere. I've never seen another.
The Bravo is being avoided in droves by both the public and the trade. Puntos are *still* unreliable and I can't think of much else that Fiat makes. 500, Panda, Punto, Bravo, Croma? Is that how it is now?
Alfa are determined to make all their new stuff willfully hideous if the Mito thing is anything to go by. The 159 is pretty, but they'll probably facelift it so it looks like Joan Rivers.
Car used for the commute. Hope that helps you understand.
LOL!
Look at those nozzles...
Damn! I need to stop this. I *knew* that was just off Vulcan Way before checking it... :-)
They stopped selling them in the UK, but they're very popular on the continent. Very closely related to that big Opel / Vauxhall thingie, too
- which also didn't sell very well in the UK, but did overseas.
Just because it's being avoided, it doesn't make it a bad car - I'm sure Zoidy will tell us how good they are soon, as he has ordered one.
The Mito is 'different', yes - but at least it's not a cloned Eurobox. It is also running the Mini close when it comes to driving experience, too.
Fiat are just about the only manufacturer to be growing their sales in the UK at the moment, too.
They're also very much in demand as an engine supplier as well as building cars for others....
Ford will not be happy if Fiat do a deal on Opel / Vauxhall, as it may well bugger things up for them with the Ka.
But just like the Vectra version, it wouldn't look, feel or handle anything like an Octavia. And VW not actually known for being stupid financially would market it at a different kind of punter, somewhere financially between Skoda and Audi, but politically to the left field of VAG, probably just below the Passat price wise, and explain it is for those who didn't want a BMW, and don't want to look like a c*ck.
I can imagine a decent VAG engined TTID 9-3 with Audi running gear would be quite tidy.
Do you reckon it really needs another FIAT remould? What do you reckon? Grande Punto into new 9-3 mk3?
Not really, aimed at different monied classes. The discerning educated old money thinking man. And the c*ck from sales with a big bonus and a decent company car allowance. Bring back the old Saab.
Audi running gear = Golf.
'Financially between Skoda and Audi' = more expensive than VW, given that the new Superb is within a whisker of the price of a Passat CC-GT.
I really don't see the market for another rebdged Golf - as VW wouldn't give Saab any flexibility in making their Golfs feel, or even look, like Saabs.
(For an example look at the Seat Exeo - a recycled old shape A4 with Seat badges. This would be Saab's destiny under VAG ownership)
Compare the 159 with the Lancia Thesis, or the Grande Punto with the Mito, or the Bravo with the soon to be introduced Alfa Junior (147 replacement)
Or go back and compare a Bravo / Marea with a 156 / 147 / GT, or Lancia Delta.
Although they use a lot of platform and engine sharing, they allow the brands to be individual and you'd never guess there was any link between most of the Fiat group cars, unless you were told about it.
That's the difference, and it's why Fiat are doing very well whilst everyone else is struggling.
They occupy the same market sector - Mrs H's uncle had a few Saabs - the last being a 9-5 estate.
He replaced it with an A4 Avant.
He's an accountant / property type person - which is Saab's core customer demographic, along with doctors.
Lets face it, we could easily have stopped half way down that list.
Yeuch. Given the dogs' breakfast the Fiat group have made of the Saab platform with the 159, and that the joint venture projects drive better, are better built, shoot are just plain better from the other half (Corsa, Ka), what hope is there for Fiat?
Vans... they make lots of vans.
And MPVs based upon said vans.
And then there's that 4x4 thing - the 'Sedici' IIRC.
Funny that Fiat are growing in a big way at the moment, whilst your beloved blue Oval are rapidly disappearing down the pan, along with the 'better' Saabs and GM products.....
Which are also badged as Peugeot / Citroen.
That's a Suzuki in disguise, to be fair.
Imagine it all you like; I can't see VAG wanting Saab, as they've most brand 'niches' covered now with the brands they already have.
snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
But you forgot the Jetta, Golf+, Touran, Eos, Tiguan and Scirocco...
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