For the umpteenth time, Alfa Romeo’s planned reentry in the US market has been put on the table. In October, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne will reveal a new schedule for Alfa’s upcoming models and the brands overseas expansion, which means yet another delay.
Last year, Marchionne revealed the company's new business plan and said that Alfa would return to the States in late 2012 with a small number of its 4C mid-engined coupe. The full-on assault in the US market would begin in mid-2013 with the launch of a compact crossover and at the end of the year, the new Giulia executive saloon.
This plan has now gone right out the window, according to a report from Automotive News. The production version of the 4C will probably be revealed at the 2013 Detroit Motor Show but it remains unclear when sales will commence.
In 2011, Alfa Romeo sold 132,000 vehicles, 18 percent more than 2010. In the first half of this year, however, the company saw its sales drop 31 percent to just 54,100 units. With yet another delay, the 400,000 global sales target set for 2014 (which was reduced by 100,000 units compared to the original estimate) looks highly unlikely to be achieved.
Marchionne is revising all of Alfa’s future products. The five-door version of the subcompact MiTo will not be sold in the United States. Rapidly falling sales in the European market made Marchionne put the next-generation Fiat Punto, on which the new MiTo will be based, on ice.
Another Alfa that won’t cross the Atlantic is the Giulietta five-door compact hatchback. Initially scheduled for 2014 to coincide with its redesign, it is now deemed too expensive to make the facelift of a model launched in 2010 US-compliant. Therefore, it won’t be until the presentation of the next generation model due towards the end of the decade that a compact-sized Alfa will be sold in the States.
The upcoming BMW 3-Series-rivalling Giulia sedan is the single most important model for the brand and the one that has suffered most delays. Marchionne has reportedly approved and then rejected many styling proposals in the past two and a half years.
Based on the CUSW platform that underpins the Dodge Dart, the 159's replacement is said to be manufactured in the U.S. and then exported to Europe. Apart from the saloon, an estate will also be launched with both versions featuring transverse-mounted 3.2- and 3.6-liter V6 Pentastar engines. Power will be transmitted to the front or all four wheels via a US-built and ZF-designed, nine-speed auto gearbox.
A mid-size SUV based on the Jeep Liberty, which will be completely redesigned in 2013, will be built alongside its sister model in Chrysler’s Ohio plant and will be launched in 2014. The compact SUV that was to be built at Fiat’s Mirafiori plant in Italy at the end of 2012 has been cancelled. The factory will instead start production a new small crossover, which will sold as a Fiat and a Jeep, in late 2013.
Autonews also reported that the rear-wheel drive large sedan planned for 2014 is probably going to be axed and the new Spider based on the next-generation Mazda MX-5 is going to be launched in 2015 instead of 2014.
On the plus side, the limited-production 4C coupe could get a Spider version with an easily removed roof, probably in 2015, although this has not been confirmed.
Among all the reshuffling that’s going on, the Italian press is reporting that the VW Group has not given up on its hopes of gaining control of Alfa Romeo.
This story has been going on for the past two years, since VW’s mastermind Ferdinand Piech expressed his interest in the brand, though Marchionne has denied over and over again that Alfa is for sale.
By Andrew Tsaousis
11 Comments:
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This is carporn
I can't believe my eyes what I'm reading... The news here is not the postponing of the US return but the death sentence signed by the delusional moron. It's clear as day they haven't learned anything just by seeing those numbers - 3.2 and 3.6, when the only number that's acceptable in Europe is 3.0.
I'm starting more and more to regret the fact VAG didn't got Alfa two years ago. They proved they can do magic with every brand they acquired (except Seat), and their technical platforms aren't bad at all.
Marchionne should be stoned to death for what he done to Alfa and Lancia!!
Fitting an American engine in an American-built car then re-badged it as an Alfa Romeo... It's a heresy.
And it's a front-wheel drive mid-size saloon, for heaven's sake...! Where did it all go wrong with Alfa? Just made another Spider, Giulia Coupe (with RWD), and another Alfa Montreal...
Now the pride of Fiat Group is in the hand of Maserati and Fiat itself... (Ferrari's too scientific and too hi-tech, and Lancia is just a re-badged Chrysler. Shame.)
just sell to VW!!!!!. Let them the push the brand upmarket, where it deserves to be....
what a surprise... DAMN IT!! that company is doomed
We keep getting delays for Alfa Romeo to come back to the US. They don't have a rear wheel drive car that any of us can afford either, so whats the point anymore.
europeon-Let's say that Fiat did indeed sell Alfa to VAG. Where do you think Alfa would fit in. There is only one spot. A direct replacement for VAG loss leader. That happens to be Seat. VAG has never made money on Seat. VAG's original plan was to make Seat the Medeteranian alternative to Alfa Romeo. So what did they do. They took Golf and Jetta mechanicals and put a swoopier bodies on them, cheaper quality materials for the dashboard and renamed the car Seat. So bascially Seat is nothing more than a cheaper built VW Golf or Jetta. Nothing more. Alfa Romeo is appealing to VAG because it has a much longer storred history than Seat(who never built anything but cheap economy cars in the first place). Do you honestly think that VAG would put a lot of money into Alfa or simply use VAG components the same as they did for Seat. They would probably use the same Spanish factories to build the VAG Alfa Romeos. Honestly as much as I cringe at the Marchionne delays and do not like the fact that the engine block will be a Chrysler V6 I would rather go for an Italian designed platform with an Italian modified Chrysler V6 than a VW Golf or Jetta or perhaps a Passat with an Italian designed body. In fact the way VAG would market it would be have your Golf ordered with the optional Alfa Romeo design to give it that more distinctive look.
You would be right if Alfa's situation today would be better that SEAT's.
what's problem using chrysler's engines prepared by alfa?
Look If Marchione is serious about building up Alfa then he would do the following:
Commit finally to building and developing all Alfa Romeo's((and perhaps Fiat vehicles) from the US. He has all the platforms he needs in Chrysler to develop and build a FWD A class, B class, C Class and D class size vehicles. The C-Evo platform can be made in all different lengths and widths.I'm sure Fiat has been working on modifying Pentastar engine's with Multiair. The Aluminum 1.75 4 cylinder engines have been developed. If the Euro market is poor then Marchione can focus sales in North and South America, the Far East, and Asia(China) as well as perhaps Great Britain.The Euro market is not slated to improve in some time. He needs to make a shift away from its dependence on Euro sales. With all the discounting going on how much money is Fiat really making . GM is losing their shirt on Opel/Vauxal, Peugeot/Citroen is bleeding, Ford is struggling etc. VW is still doing well but for how long. I'm saying that Fiat needs to move it's main car making operations away from Italy at this point. They should keep a presence in Italy but until market conditions improve cars and car sales need to be somewhere else. Fiat needs to stop depending on Europe for product. It is a tough decision but it's the only decision that makes sence at this point. Fiat should go down to perhaps 1 or 2 factories in Italy and that's it.
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