Everything You Know About Alfa Romeo Is Wrong
Remember when we showed you this leaked Alfa Romeo product plan slide, looked straight into your eyes and swore Alfa Rome would be selling a junior supercar and a compact crossover in the US by the 2012 model year? We were lying. Automotive News [sub] let’s us down gently
Chrysler/Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne still says Alfa, which is owned by Fiat, will make its comeback in late 2012 — which had been the plan since April 2010 — but only for a few units of the limited-edition 4C coupe.
A full return now isn’t scheduled to happen before mid-2013, starting with a compact crossover. The mid-sized Giulia sedan could follow by the end of 2013 at the earliest.
What caused the latest delay? Marchionne has rejected the proposed styling for the [Giulia] sedan three times in the past 18 months.
You decide which bit of news is the worst: that Alfa finds itself lost when it tries to design a D-segment car, or that the hot little 4C is going to be a limited edition deal instead of a 15k-25k units per year, semi-affordable ($60k-ish) little mostro. If forced to choose, I’d argue that the prior challenge is the more difficult and necessary, considering that brand’s past struggles selling larger cars… but of course reasonable minds can disagree. Meanwhile, on a more personal level, I find myself continually amazed at how Alfa’s product plans, like its products themselves, are able to completely attract and repel me from moment to moment. Like so many people who identify “emotion” as a core personality trait, Alfa just can’t seem to have a normal relationship with the people who care about it…
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Just make them all look like the Brera... forever.
This isn't news. Alfa Romeo promises to re-enter the US market in two years EVERY year! I keep track because I would really like one.
So CEO singlehandedly accepts/rejects designs for new cars? Must be again this one-man-show thing, I don't believe any other car maker is ran like that. What if he has bad taste -day and disaster like Aztec will be created?
Eh, that's okay. I kind of didn't believe the plan anyway. Sounded like a lot of fluff.