Earnings Report Shows Fiat Chrysler Giving Alfa Romeo All the Attention It Deserves - Which Apparently Isn't Much

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Sports car fans had best brace themselves for a big letdown. Fiat Chrysler, currently pursuing a merger with France’s Groupe PSA, has given investors a peak at future high-end product, and two anticipated models seem to have fallen off the drawing board.

Those products would be the reborn Alfa Romeo GTV and 8C, which are nowhere to be seen in the brand’s near-future product timeline. However, if crossovers are your thing, you’re in luck.

In classic FCA tradition, the five-year product plan released in mid-2018 has apparently undergone a revision. Under a banner reading “Refocus brand on its strengths while efficiently deploying capital,” the plan now shows a refreshed Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover appearing for 2021, joined at the same time by a C-segment CUV with an available plug-in hybrid powertrain. The latter model, riding atop the same platform used by the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X, is believed to borrow the Tonale name used by a recent concept vehicle.

Following the Tonale, Alfa plans to launch a B-segment CUV for 2022. This model will spawn a fully-electric variant.

All that said, there’s no sign of the GTV, a sporty 2+2 coupe that first appeared in Alfa’s lineup in the 1970s as an Alfetta trim. The model, which quickly dropped the Alfetta name and ended production in 1987, was resurrected in the mid-1990s as a slinky tourer, wrapping up production in 2004. FCA has planned to return the GTV name, with an appearance expected in 2021.

The 8C nameplate goes back much further, all the way to Alfa’s road and race cars of the early 1930s. A reborn two-seater bearing the 8C Competizione name appeared in 2007 in coupe and convertible guise, disappearing after 2010.

Whether FCA has postponed the introductions or scrapped the plan altogether isn’t certain, but the updated timeline and associated wording pretty much screams that the latter scenario is true. The company’s merger plans may have played a role in Alfa’s future product.

As reported by Autocar, FCA CEO Mike Manley said during an earnings call this week that Alfa’s future product lineup has been “significantly scaled back, with a corresponding reduction in capital spending.” Bummer for those not in the mood for a sometimes-temperamental sedan or a crossover.

[Image: Chris Tonn/TTAC]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Lokki Lokki on Nov 02, 2019

    Sigh... Alfa Romeo: Breaking owners’ hearts since 1910. Ask the man who owns one...

  • Hydromatic Hydromatic on Nov 02, 2019

    You know, all of this nonsense could have been avoided if it wasn't for the 25-year rule and other onerous U.S.-specific regs preventing gray market imports of these vehicles. Imagine if the die-hard Alfisti could simply buy their beloved 159s and Giulias either directly overseas or through a specialist importer. Alfa Romeo and Fiat would have no need to waste money setting up shop here just so a small pool of customers could get their fix.

  • ToolGuy This is the kind of thing you get when you give people faster internet.
  • ToolGuy North America is already the greatest country on the planet, and I have learned to be careful about what I wish for in terms of making changes. I mean, if Greenland wants to buy JDM vehicles, isn't that for the Danes to decide?
  • ToolGuy Once again my home did not catch on fire and my fire extinguisher(s) stayed in the closet, unused. I guess I threw my money away on fire extinguishers.(And by fire extinguishers I mean nuclear missiles.)
  • Carson D The UAW has succeeded in organizing a US VW plant before. There's a reason they don't teach history in the schools any longer. People wouldn't make the same mistakes.
  • B-BodyBuick84 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport of course, a 7 seater, 2.4 turbo-diesel I4 BOF SUV with Super-Select 4WD, centre and rear locking diffs standard of course.
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