Been asked by Autoitalia to make this thread for "market research purposes"

So who actually reads this? Please give your reasons why you do or dont.

thanks

sammi

Ive voted No.

I used to subscribe to it but stopped because 90% of the stuff were the higher end of the market cars.

I have rarely seen anything Fiat wise in there, so wasnt any interest to me.

Don't know anything about it, but it sounds rubbish.

Didn't even realise it was a magazine until Sunday

sammiboo said:

Ive voted No.

I used to subscribe to it but stopped because 90% of the stuff were the higher end of the market cars.

I have rarely seen anything Fiat wise in there, so wasnt any interest to me.

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Same here, however I've never bought it for that reason.

I did buy an old copy with the Punto Rolling Road article, but never bought a current copy.

Puntoboy said:

Same here, however I've never bought it for that reason.

I did buy an old copy with the Punto Rolling Road article, but never bought a current copy.

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Hi folks
Thanks very much for replying to this
The main reason why i wanted this put up here was so that i could figure out how many of you bought it. Would you be interested in more articles on modified/standard fiats etc? And if we carried more related editorial, would you buy it?

Regards
Chris

Would like to have replied... "very rarely"

As above. A.I. is a magazine for the higher end of the market... it needs a broader coverage to encapsulate me. Yeah the cars featured are truly beautiful cars but i could buy top marques for that. Italian mag = all italian metal...

you ever had that dream you have as a boy? sorry ladies i'm heading to a point and nothing will stop me....

on my wall as a lad were posters of lambos and ferraris, i'd bug my dad to go to motorshows and see them in the metal, and wonder at the craft and imagination that went into creating something so amazing. and then you grow up, and the dream fades with your first job as you realise that dammit, those cars are expensive, and i cant even insure an uno tub! so then time moves on, and the lottery comes along and again you think, if i win, fat wodge of cash in a bag, down to maranello in surrey, "i'll have that one" bosh.....and then time moves on again, and the joy you had that one day, you might just might make reality meet aspiration, is sunk when you realise that to truely own one of these cars, you have treat everyone else like dirt.....no thanks

Voted No. I too didnt realise it was a mag until I decided to drag the family to Stanford Hall earlier this year. I tend to buy classic car mags once in a while, the last one compared new and old - 124 Spider v's Barchetta, which is why I bought it... it was a bit high end as none of the cars for sale in it were much less than 8K My 'new' JTD Stilo was barely 5K

Had a desire for an X1/9 as a winter project this year (closest thing to a Ferrari in my price range) but realise that even finding the spare time & money for that would have been a challenge...

Strangely enough i used to buy AI back when i was about 12ish. Id never buy it these days though as i dont feel it gives enough variety for my reading tastes

I used to be an avid reader and still constantly read the older issues which actually feature cars I am interested in and can aspire to own.

In the last year or so I've bought it maybe once, most times I flick through it in WH Smiths and put it back on the shelf. It seems to me that Mr Ward and co have collectively lost sight of what the readship wants, so it's encouraging to see that you have actually embarked on some market research, all is not lost.

I've talked about this on several occasions with other Italian car enthusiasts and we arrived at the same conclusion. The magazine staff enjoy their trips abroad to test drive exotica so much that older stuff that is actually attainable to people like me (who make up the vast majority of the AI readership) is being forgotten. I can see the lure. I understand why the AI staff want to travel to Italy to be wined and dined by Ferrari and Maserati, but if it continues I fear that AI won't last.

Another problem I have with the mag which is also shared with those I have spoken to is that even the road tests are more like travel articles. Take the Grande Punto road test by Phil Ward in the November 4th - December 1st 2005 issue. At the time I was considering buying a Grande Punto, I eventually bought a Stilo but that's another story, so I was looking forward to the article. I sat down to read it and then I had to wade through nonsense about Turin. I didn't want to know about the Olympic HQ or the bloody "underground train system currently being installed". I wanted to know the what, why and where of the new Punto. Actually, that was last issue I bought. The style of writing has descended into a self-serving description of the life and times of Phil Ward, a log of his all-expenses paid holidays. Autocar had a much much better article on the Grande Punto just a few weeks later which I used to help me make a purchasing decision. If I'd used AI to help me with that decision I'd have stopped of at the travel agents on the way to the dealer and blown my deposit money on a weekend in Turin.

My advice, for what it is worth is this, cut the crap, get back to what you do best. Focus on the cars, don't forget those of us who have to work for a living and can't afford exotica. Also, decide what you are. You're either a car magazine or an Italian lifestyle magazine. You can't be both.

Oh, and bring back the price listings at the back of the mag!

I always buy it
Always something interesting to read in there
plus its somewhat more sophisticated than Modified mags

:worship:

although as above... agreed, as there was a similar article about the new fiat croma which had a lot about wine or something in it

That said, i'm looking forward to reading about the reconditioned Mk1 uno turbo

and when my car's sorted i know theres at least 3 of us who would like to be a part of a Fiat Cinquecento Turbo article

I usually flick through it instore unless there is something that would interest me if there was more stuff on "real world" cars as such, then i'm sure that i would be more inclined to buy it.

Guishnu said:

Hi folks
Thanks very much for replying to this
The main reason why i wanted this put up here was so that i could figure out how many of you bought it. Would you be interested in more articles on modified/standard fiats etc? And if we carried more related editorial, would you buy it?

Regards
Chris

Click to expand...

If you went along this path I would certainly give it a go, as at the present no way will I waste my money on a mag that is more at home with the 'Country Life' set which is the way I had assumed the mag wanted to go the way 'normal' Fiats are treated at your shows.

Steve

never seen it in the shops, in fact never heard of it so i cant comment.

i dont do 'modding mags' and not many people over the age of 16 do (if its anything like max power forget it).

i wouldn't be interested in a mag all about ferraris and lambos because they're way out of my league. (daydreaming is for schoolboys)

if the mag has info about italian motors in general, and some interesting historical or technical or review style articles i'd be interested. test drive reports of italian cars would be good too. as would comparisons of different italian cars that share platforms. and news about new models with specs and reviews. also some relevant advertising is always useful. that would all make it appealing to the majority of fiatforum users i would have thought.

an online version is the way forward these days, not many people can be arsed with a paper mag. online is better because its free for the user, much cheaper to produce for autoitalia, and you still enjoy the advertising revenue.

Im taking it all on board folks
Thanks again and keep the feedback coming.

It is important to realise that the mag will have ferraris and lambos in because... well, there are ppl who can and do own them.
As a magazine which covers italian cars, it is obliged to write about this kind of car.
It wouldn't work if it ignored them altogether.

It's a difficult issue in a way, since people buy magazines for different reasons.
I buy auto italia because i love the cars, not because i'm thinking about buying any. Last issue... 122, was ace as it looked at some really interesting tuned fiats and abarth cars. Namely the Autobianchi A112 and Fiat Dallara X1/9... i find these cars fascinating, although i'm well aware i will probably never own one.

On the other hand, some of us will buy the mag to read a review about a certain car to gather information which would be put towards informing a purchasing decision, like steve with the punto/stilo.

Diversity is important because the Italian Car world is a big one.

Just my thouhts

steve1219 said:

If you went along this path I would certainly give it a go, as at the present no way will I waste my money on a mag that is more at home with the 'Country Life' set which is the way I had assumed the mag wanted to go the way 'normal' Fiats are treated at your shows.

Steve

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:yeahthat: well said that man I think AI are on a losing battle with the average fiat owner I like modified cars [not everyone's cup of tea I know] but you give me a mag full of info on how to do these mods or info on basic construction of the car electronics /and all the different systems on the car then I might buy AI magazine until then No thank-you very much would rather buy Fast car or max power [sorry about the max power one guys ] I buy it for the tuning honest lmao

One thing to add though, i did love the shoot/feature you did with the punto's probably could have gotten more diverse but regardless a good feature non the less

Just thought i'd throw in a compliment amongst the criticism

PNL said:

:yeahthat: well said that man I think AI are on a losing battle with the average fiat owner I like modified cars [not everyone's cup of tea I know] but you give me a mag full of info on how to do these mods or info on basic construction of the car electronics /and all the different systems on the car then I might buy AI magazine until then No thank-you very much would rather buy Fast car or max power [sorry about the max power one guys ] I buy it for the tuning honest lmao

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Tell the truth Phil the girlies have something to do with it

Steve