CAR Magazine: Alfa Romeo to Go RWD Only
The UK’s CAR magazine’s Georg Kacher is reporting that Alfa Romeo will be going exclusively to rear wheel drive models as it drops the Mito and Giulietta FWD hatchbacks around 2015.
The new Alfa models will involve collaboration with fellow Fiat stablemate Maserati. According to CAR’s “insider” source, 2015 will see the introduction of a Giulia sedan intended to compete with cars like the BMW 3 Series, with a larger Alfetta sedan following in 2016 to go up against the E Class and 5 Series cars. Those sedans will be followed in 2017 and 2018 with a compact competitor to BMW’s X1 and then a larger X3/Q5 competitor. The SUVs will based on the same modular platform as the sedan, developed with Maserati. Those cars will share showroom space with the recently introduced 4C midengine sports car and the upcoming roadster jointly developed with Mazda’s next MX-5. Both those cars are rear wheel drive. It’s apparently thought within Fiat that Alfa cannot compete with brands like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi without superior driving dynamics and that RWD is the way to achieve those dynamics. Look for ZF’s rapidly proliferating 8 speed transmission and a Maserati V6 in the new Alfas as well as hybrid versions. No word from CAR’s insider on whether or not Fiat owned Chrysler will have access to the same RWD platforms, though the larger Alfetta sedan would be the right size to underpin the next Chrysler 300.
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I'll bet former TTAC editor/founder, Robert Farago could come up with a NSFW way to describe that front end.
Sergio knows economies of scale. Word is the RWD Giulia could also become a replacement for the Avenger.
Sounds great. However, the plan to build Alfas off of Maserati platforms has been around for years. A RWD successor to the Alfa 166 was proposed more than six years ago. All the customers who drove a 166 or still do, have probably moved on to greener (German?) pastures. Good luck trying to get these people back on board. There is nothing wrong with Alfa Romeo offering FWD hatchbacks. Audi does so too, as does Mercedes, and even BMW is about to use the new Mini platform for some of its own compact cars. What Alfa lacks is money and products. There is absolutely no fund for R&D, not even at Fiat which plods along with outdated cars. RWD is no guarantee for success. The Alfetta, the Giulietta and the 75 (ie Milano) were all rear wheel drive yet none of them were competitive against the likes of BMW, at least not outside of Italy.
Oh yes Alfa, kill the two models which are your only volume sellers. I doubt any of this will happen in reality. Decades have passed since Alfa had a full product line-up, really. And what will happen is - even though developed with Maserati, the underpinning of the larger sedan will come from the 300. Not the other way around. They'll take Chryslers platforms (since already in existence) and tart them up or down in size, then give it a once-over to create a Chrysalfa Maseromeo. Make no mistake about it.