Alfa Romeo contract hire is far from the most popular lease car amongst our clients, it is however without a doubt the car with at least as much and sometimes more class than cars that are significantly more expensive.
What is it about Alfa Romeo that makes a relatively inexpensive vehicle, a car that no one would be embarrassed to own? It is Italian, which is presumably a factor and they are beautifully designed, as is so much of what comes out of Italy.
So what do people think of Alfa Romeo owners? Well we don’t really know but we know that saying you drive an Alfa Romeo gets a very different reaction from saying you drive a Ford Mondeo. This is in spite of the fact that you can pay over £26,000 for a Mondeo and yet you can buy an Alfa Romeo for under £11,000. To be frank a Mondeo is in a different class from an Alfa in every respect, apart from, well class.
Perhaps people assume that if someone owns an Alfa Romeo, it is their choice and has nothing to do with the fact that the car is quite inexpensive; more the case that they want an Alfa Romeo and would buy one whatever the cost.
Alfa Romeos go wrong but then so do Ferraris, although you never hear anyone say “My Ferrari wouldn’t start this morning, I think I’ll buy a nice reliable Volvo instead”. Italian car are generally beautiful but high maintenance. Perhaps their owners take the view that it’s a price worth paying.
There is also a slight problem with rust, which is not uncommon with Italian cars, although it doesn’t seem to be too much of a problem for their owners; they probably would be very unhappy if the same rust appeared on their Vauxhall Vectra but owners of Italian cars just seem to take it in their stride.
As you would expect the Alfa Romeo’s value depreciates fairly steeply and that is reflected to some extent in car leasing prices, although to balance that contract hire companies do have some very favourable deals with Alfa Romeo. Of course the depreciation that is not so good from a car leasing perspective, because it affects the residual values, is great for second hand buyers.
The very stylish Spider costs just under £27,000 about the same price as a top of the range Ford Mondeo but what a different car, although it’s unfair to compare a Ford, Vauxhall or Volvo with an Alfa Romeo; they really are in different worlds and so in our experience, as a car leasing company, are their drivers.
The Spectacular 8C and 8C Competizione of which only 500 of each were produced, were immediately sold. Only 41 of the 8C Competizione came to the UK and were subsequently changing hands at more £50,000 over the book price.
It’s difficult to define exactly what it is that draws people to buying or acquiring an Alfa Romeo lease car, it is perhaps partly it’s stylish looks, partly the romantic image and the company’s long association with motor racing; even back in the early 1900’s they were producing a road car with a 4.1 Litre engine and a top speed of over 100 kmh.
Whatever the attraction is it is almost impossible to persuade a client planning to contract hire an Alfa Romeo to consider a different lease car; there mind is generally made up and you could offer them the top of the range model of a more mundane, albeit more expensive car and it would probably have no attraction whatsoever.
Should you have any queries or questions with regard to Fleet Management, Contract Hire or vehicle Hire Purchase, please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowater Price plc 01494 536 536. www.bowaterprice.com.