Shock! Fiat Delays Alfa's U.S. Market Entry, Recalibrates China

With U.S. new car sales set to fall below the most pessimistic of pre-metldown prognostications (ours at 12m p.a.), is it any wonder that Fiat has decided not to brings Alfa Romeo brand stateside? Our resident historians will be glad to recount the absolute ass-kicking Alfa endured in The Land of the Free, but again, this is the worst of all possible times to try and get something started in the American market. Strike that. Just BEFORE the collapse would have been the worst time. This is an excellent time to NOT import mass market Italian cars stateside. And so they aren’t. “Alfa’s U.S. return was originally planned by {Fiat Group and Fiat Group Automobiles CEO Sergio] Marchionne for the final quarter of 2009, then later delayed to the 2010,” Automotive News [sub] reports “In pushing that back another year, Marchionne told analysts, because ‘it would be simply crazy investing for returning Alfa in such a depressed U.S. market.'” And so… “Alfa’s return to the United States will be delayed by a year to 2011.” [TTAC tip: don’t hold you breath.] China after the jump.

Sergio also readjusted his Chinese sales targets. “The new 2010 goal for Fiat sales in China is now 50,000.” That’s gonna be rough, as “In China, Fiat has so far missed all the targets Marchionne had previously set. The Italian automaker has not produced vehicles in China since December 2007, when it ended its joint venture with Nanjing Automobile. Fiat is currently importing ‘a few thousand’ vehicles produced in Italy and Turkey, Marchionne said. Each is sold at a loss, but the automaker needs to continue importing vehicles to bolster its Chinese dealer network. Because of this, Marchionne acknowledged that the 300,000 units sales target he had set for 2010 is unreachable.” Ya think?