29.12.2004 WELL ESTABLISHED IN THAILAND FOR MANY YEARS, ALFA ROMEO NOW HAS A PROUD THAI CLUB WHICH IS WEEKS AWAY FROM CELEBRATING ITS SECOND ANNIVERSARY

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.


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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