The Punto came out in 1993 and was an unqualified success |
The record Italian production figure of 1989 soon became a distant memory. Fiat slipped downward and merging Auto Bianchi into Lancia's meant less production overall. Innocenti ended altogether! Poland was the benefactor in Europe, with it's Fiat production volume nearly doubling during the decade and the number of models made there grew.
Looking at Fiat, the Punto was a successful replacement for the Uno during this period. However, the Bravo/Brava didn't do nearly as well as the Tipo model that they had replaced. The Panda was in a steady decline and the Marea wasn't quite as popular as the Tempra.
Lancia was only replacing models well beyond their use by date, which was hurting production. When newer ones did arrive, they didn't do so well. Alfa Romeo was more successful, with new models arriving in a timely fashion.
In summary, production was not holding up too well and the question to be asked was is this a hiccup or continuing trend?
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Data source: ANFIA.
The 156 came in 1997 and was a winner for the clover leaf brand |
Small correction: the "Brand" Alfa is not designated by a Clover Leaf. This is the equivalent of the "M" logo of the Italian brand noting a sportier tone.
ReplyDeleteIf you seek a distinctive element, they are the brand with a snake...
Hello Zoldfulu. You are correct about the cloverleaf being for sportier Alfas but it is the best known symbol for the brand. The official emblem has two sides to it. The left is a red cross on white, representing how some from the city of Milan were involved in the Crusades. The right side is a snake - as you mentioned - with a man in its mouth. The man is coming out thankfully. This was from a war against a Saracan knight and in victory against him, the emblem was taken. I believe that is correct.
ReplyDeleteAs for calling it the snake brand, that could sound negative. The cloverleaf is a well known representation. Thanks for pointing it out but l'll stick with what I've got, despite it not being reflective of the brand entirely.