In
the meantime there were hundreds of unsold petrol-powered 2300s stocking up in Brazil. It was a huge problem, and
it was clear to all that they would not sell over a short
period of time.
Under
normal circumstances Alfa Romeo importers were able to
decide for themselves what they imported, but now came an
assignment from top Alfa Romeo management, who were trying
to find a solution to the cumulating 2300 problem, to
offer the Brazilian-built cars for sale in Holland and
Germany as the Alfa Romeo 2300 RIO.
Both
European importers took Alfa Romeo’s decision with a pinch
of salt. It was simply an unpleasant vehicle to sell, mainly
seeing that transport costs from Brazil had to be considered
in the price, which as a result would be uncompetitive.
About
600 cars were shipped over to Holland, and only a handful of
2300 RIO’s were ever sold. The remaining stock of unsold
examples stayed with the importer for three years. Parked
next to the coast, the constant salt and wind buffeting did
not aide the 2300 RIO’s already lacking allure.
For
the cars that did sell, there were no spare parts, which was
maybe a good thing. This gave the importers the opportunity
to strip some of their stock for spare parts backup. This at
least resolved some of the problem, but there were still
hundreds of examples left.
Had
the Dutch and German importers decided to lower the consumer
cost of the cars to get rid of them, they’d have still been stuck
with two year-long warranty issues. The warranty covered the
body and paint for two years, and the engine for two years
or 100.000 km.
For
three-year-old ‘new’ cars that had been severely
weathered this was a horrendous financial proposition.
Therefore, in 1981, the Dutch importer decided to sell them
on to the intermediate trade to get round the problem.
Indeed,
the trim, electrics and body were of very poor quality and
did cause horrendous warranty claims, so much so, that after
about a year or so, Alfa Romeo offered to take back all the
2300 RIO’s from the owners and replace them with a 105 series
2000 Berlina at no cost to the customer.
The
price which the Dutch importer sold the cars on for must
have been generous to compensate for the expected warranty
problems. It is possible that they even lost money on each
sale, just to be rid of the problem they were dumped with.
