Alfa Romeo wants to focus on North America, Europe next in line
Fiat wants to focus on the relaunch for the Alfa Romeo line in North America before they crawl back up the European market to restore their credibility as a brand. This was the statement of CEO Sergio Marchionne who also shared that the task at hand for Alfa Romeo is the toughest among his list of goals upon taking the helm at Fiat seven years ago.
Alfa Romeo is expected to tap an executive to spearhead its operations in the United States before the end of the year prior to their planned relaunch in 2013. Alfa Romeo exited the US market back in 1995 but market tests done recently showed positive results for the brand. The market pulse have convinced the management of Alfa to first focus on North America before crawling back into Europe.
Marchionne pointed out that the desirability indications of the Alfa Romeo as a brand is still positive despite being absent in the market for quite some time now. Alfa is still among the well known car brands across the globe so the company wants to take advantage of the eagerness of the market.
The mother company foresees Alfa Romeo to deliver around 400,000 units annually to its global consumers as soon as 2014. The target is quite on the ambitious side as the sales reports reflect an average of about 150,000 per year since the ’80s.
In North America, Fiat sees Alfa Romeo to roll out 85,000 vehicles by 2014 which the CEO considers as a realistic goal.
The relaunch of Alfa Romeo will have the following lineup up for grabs the rear drive compact Alfa Romeo 4C and the SUV which was developed in collaboration with Jeep. The role of the 4C in the US relaunch is vital as it rekindles the love of the market for the Alfa Spider made famous by the film The Graduate that showed in the 1960s.
Alfa Romeo will also have the 6C during the 2014 relaunch of the brand. This will be the flagship saloon lifting its DNA from the platform of the Chrysler 300. It will have the tamer version of the V63.6L Pentastar powerplant under its hood. The lineup will also include a new version of the Spider, the 5-door Mito.
Fiat is also expanding its network to around 150 dealerships before the end of the year.
Tags: Alfa Romeo, Alfa Romeo 4C, Chrysler 300, Fiat
Alfa Romeo unveils line of products until 2014; next generation V6 RWD Saloon in the works
During a recent conference of investors earlier this month, Alfa Romeo presented the lay out of new vehicle lines that are due for roll out until 2014. The Alfa Romeo brand has the strongest potential under the umbrella of the Fiat and Chrysler groups to reach potential markets globally. Sergio Marchionne, the brand’s topman know of the brand’s full potentials that is why he does not want to give in to clamors of companies like Volkswagen to buy Alfa Romeo.
The product plan of Alfa Romeo plans to launch their “brand igniters” primarily anchored on two new cars. These new vehicles is expected to catapult the sales of Alfa Romeo up and also improve its image on the market.
First in line is the 4C Supercar from Alfa Romeo which boasts of a carbonfiber body and a mid engine configuration. This car will also mark the return of the brand to the shores of the US. The 4C supercar is not expected to roll out in volume but the two seater with the state of the art technology will serve to remind the market of Alfa Romeo’s credentials and sport history.
The second car is the 2014 Spider roadster which according to insiders will have an excellent power-weight ratio, sporty driving attitude, and distinctive design lines.
Another important product in the pipeline is the next gen Giulia saloon and its sportwagon version. This car will be tapping into the Giulietta platform. It is expected to takeover the place of the 159 come 2014. Alfa Romeo will also field an SUV available to their global market to replace its mid-size premium model which will stop production by 2012. The latter will be meeting the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series head on in the luxury car market.
Amid all these plans is the new Alfa Romeo 1.8 turbocharged powerplant capable of producing 300 horsepower that will be used in a wide range of vehicles.
