Alfa Romeo 168 for Superstitious Chinese People

Not to stereotype or anything, but Chinese people are a superstitious lot. I've got a Chinese friend who was raised and educated in the West, got As in AP Physics, Calculus, etc., and he has a wok hanging over his front doorway to drive out evil spirits.

Which explains this, the Alfa Romeo 168. A 168? There was no such thing, you say. Oh, but there was. The Alfa 164 sold poorly in Chinese markets-- Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore-- because 1-6-4 in Chinese roughly translates into "the more you go, the more you die".

So the brain trust at Alfa Romeo marketing simply changed the badge to 168, which roughly means "the more you go, the wealthier you will be". Case solved.

Among the other sales victims/winners of Chinese superstition:

• Porsche 928 (long easy prosperity)
• Ferrari 328 (life of easy prosperity)
• Ferrari 348 (life of prosperity until you die)
• Porsche 924 (enough easy death)
• 944 (enough double death)

Maybe this also explains why there are no Audi A4s and BMW 540i's in China.

Sources: Here and here.