Alfa Romeo is one of the few automotive brands which can
rightfully claim international fondness and devotion;
associated feelings which normally only aspire to machinery
far more exclusive and out-of-reach for enthusiasts.
One such country where this devotion is particularly strong
is Thailand. Few people in this wonderful and exotic country
can recall exactly how long Alfa Romeo have been selling
cars in their country, with most current owners having been
embedded into the Alfa Romeo tradition, growing up with one
of the brand's models in their family.
Alfa Romeo's recent success with award-winning models such
as the 147 and 156, has also been recognised by the Thai
following.
Alfa's future in Thailand now rests with the third
distributor group to take up the sales challenge, now
bolstered by the fact that competitive, exciting cars are
once more rolling off the production lines.
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6th December 2004: Alfa Romeo's local importer, Thai
Prestige Auto Sales invited ACT to attend the Thai
International Motor Expo in Bangkok. 25 Alfa Romeos,
ranging from the 155, 156, 164 and Spider, turned
out. |
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One of the
highlights of the last two years for the Alfa
Club Thailand was a track day held in hot and
sunny conditions at the Bhira circuit, near
Pattaya. |
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The
presence of Alfa Romeo in Thailand has always been quite
limited due to the small numbers imported, although the
marginal numbers have helped keep the brand highly
'exclusive'. Until recently the same has been true of the
independent owner's community, until the formation of the
Alfa Club Thailand last year.
Two years ago sales of the award-winning Alfa Romeo 156 in
Thailand were significantly boosted after Fiat Auto entered
into an agreement with their strategic partner, General
Motors, to assemble the Alfa Romeo 156 Selespeed locally.
With production commencing in the first quarter of 2002, the
deal represented one of the few times that an Alfa Romeo
model had been built outside of Italy.
By
utilising excess capacity at GM’s automotive plant, located
in Rayong, a series of local-market targeted 'limited
edition' models were introduced before production ended
earlier this year.
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