5 June 2001: Getting a couple of extra doors on an Alfa 147 will cost around £500 more than the current 3-door range, but there's more to the 'baby' Alfa than that as it sets out to increase its market share in Ireland.

Driving the car yesterday from Rome to near Assisi, first impressions were that this latest option from Fiat Auto's sporty brand rolls on the same superb basics as does the 3-door which we first drove in the innovatiove Hannibal Run last November. But now there's also a 2-litre engine option with manual transmission (heretofore only available with the Selespeed auto/semimanual), and a series of specification variations which bring to no less than 12 the variety of 147s which can be bought in Ireland.

And the 5-doors have a price range in Ireland from £17,800 to £23,200 in the C-segment where 3-doors have just 14% of the market while 5-doors take 37%.

At the same time, given how late in the buying year that the 5-door has arrived, Alfa in Ireland are only expecting that a total of 660 147s will be sold, of which 320 already sold are 3-doors.

"We have been promised supply enough to achieve this," outgoing Fiat Auto Ireland CEO Nicola Greco told us at his 'swan song' press conference in Bosco, Umbria, last night ... he leaves to work for Ducatti Motorcycles at the end of the month.

The total C-segment market in Ireland will be worth around 22,800 vehicles this year in a revised anticipated total market of some 175,000 vehicles.

In total car sales, Alfa Ireland has already taken 1.2% market share in year-to-date sales (end of May). Though unit sales are down compared to last year, this will still represent a 20% increase in market share.

The key competitors to the 147 are VW's Golf, Audi's A3, and top-range Ford Focuses, Opel Astras and Renault Meganes, according to the company's Irish marketing boss Jeff Culkin.

"The car is aimed at professionals eraning £35,000-plus," he suggested, though he declined to give an age demographic for the target market. "This is a car for those with a sporting heart, of any age."

The 147 is aimed at 'both male and female' buyers, Culkin said, and is already establishing itself among 'user-choosers' in the company car market.

The 5-door 147 line-up will match the engine and specification availability of the 3-door versions. Engines will be 1.6- and 2-litre, with a Selespeed option for the larger unit. Added-value versions to the 'entry-level' T-Spark are Sportivo and Lusso, which provide more interior comforts and gadgets. All versions come with a high specification of safety, including front and side airbags.

A JTD diesel version is expected to be available in Ireland before the end of the year. BB