Alfa Romeo future under review.

[tcy148]

Alfa's future under review - Autocar.co.uk

Don't really know where to post this...
Has anyone read this? Bad times...

[ChristopherF]

this sounds awful (who wants an "AlfaRomeoized" Chrysler?)

Outlining Alfa's options, Marchionne said Alfa could replace the 159 and 166 with saloons built in North America on Chrysler platforms, but unique to Alfa and sold by Alfa worldwide.

"Certainly the availability of D and E segment (platforms) in the United States which are capable of being Alfa Romeoized is there. We need to look at the economics of that opportunity," Marchionne said.

[Rainski1]

I think if this is the case then Alfa should leave the market with its integrity intact, with the scope for a future revival.

[Looky]

Just need 100,000 of us Alfa fans to buy new models before the end of the year. Seriously though, this is worrying :/

[n13roy]

I think the most frightening thing there, is that bloody awful SUV Alfa Romeo. How dreadful does that image look !!!!.....

[jsfletcher159]

Have you all seen this:

Alfa's future under review - Autocar.co.uk

A bit worrying isn't it?

What will we buy to replace these pieces of art?

[toby2449]

Alfa's based on Chryslers!! wow, why just kill off the brand & stop the shame...

[winja]

I read somewhere on there that Fiat will be given access to Chyslers new 3.6 litre v6. Every cloud has a silver lining

[Jackus]

Doesn't sound good... but I would've thought the MiTo and 147-replacement will show boosted results for AR in time.

[Jackus]

Originally Posted by n13roy

I think the most frightening thing there, is that bloody awful SUV Alfa Romeo. How dreadful does that image look !!!!.....

Alfa need an SUV. It would mean opening the brand up to a whole new audience, leading to increased sales, and hopefully survival

[Nicky]

Originally Posted by winja

I read somewhere on there that Fiat will be given access to Chyslers new 3.6 litre v6. Every cloud has a silver lining

Are we thinking of the same Chrysler... the Chrysler who struggle to get 50bhp per litre out of their engines?

(Before the pedants come along, yes I know I'm exaggerating)

[Jackus]

I hope Alfa survives

[nayf]

Seeing as the 156 was based on a reworked Fiat Tipo floorplan, I'm not about to lose hope. Yet.

[LFCAlfa]

May not happen alfa sales went up last month by 0.04% doesn't sounds much but in terms of volume it is however i hope this won't happen and the marque stays under the italian flag

The best thing that could happen is for Fiat to sell Alfa to another company that won't keep cocking it up so badly.
Mercedes Benz or the VW Group would be good custodians and they would make it work, treating the marque with respect. Fiat are just incompetent and have done Alfa no good at all apart from drip feeding it. It was a hopeless money losing business in 1985, and hey! It still is today. Just imagine what they could have done with it in 24 years.
The other option is possibly more attractive:close the existing factories, discontinue the entire model range and make a couple of very expensive hand built cars using for example bought in Ferrari power units and transmissions - there are enough disgustingly wealthy Italian industrialists with a love of cars to do this. The other option is yet another range of so-so cars, this time built on bloody Chrysler platforms. No Thanks. That would be a horrible end for a great marque.

[AlfaLincs]

Marchione is right though isn't he. There have been so many reinventions of Alfa thats its identity is confused and confusing. It has covered too many market segments..mini cars to big cars and estates. Compare that to the onward march in one direction of BMW creating a marque identity that, love em or hate em, is incomparable.

Lets face it, the Italians are lovable and disorganised. Always have been, always will be. Occasionally they produce a gem, then follow it up with a dog .100,000 sales in a year is embarassingly bad, and unsustainable.

How many people think you are mad owning an Alfa. Lots, and it really shouldn't be that way.

Sad really

AlfaLincs

[n13roy]

Personally, I don't think ANYONE would buy an Alfa Romeo SUV ( would you ) we can't sell the Cars that are being made at the moment, and they only really appeal to us Alfa Romeo fans overall, most of whom are fed up with waiting for the new 149 Milano ( or whatever name they decide on ) So in reality there would be NO chance of one of us buying a SUV ( which is a dying breed anyway ) methinks, I certainly would not........

Apart from that, I haven't got a Dealer within a 100 mile round trip of me nowdays !!!!!......


BTW.....

There are now 2 threads here on the same topic, perhaps someone could merge them......

[stegs]

You're right AlfaLincs.
I've just bought a Mito because it pressed the right buttons for me.
I know that many Alfistis have been a bit sniffy about it but it has
to be better than a SUV.
I only hope there might be a new Alfa for me to buy in five years time

[NineOneSix]

Well if this happens I doubt I'll buy another Alfa apart from older classic shaped ones that is

[n13roy]

As I've written a few comments on the other posting, which is exactly the same story as this thread. Can someone merge them, please.......

[LFCAlfa]

No one knows what's going to happen alfa romeo where the only car company to see an increase in sales during the (i'm fed up saying it) recession so it's hard to see what will happen who ever takes over i'm sure will understand the history and heritage of the badge and they will soon learn it has unique driver- let's hope the accountant's who make these decision's know this

[ukmike2008]

Don't be gloomy - if they still support the Lancias that are being turned out nowadays they should be able to find a few quid for Alfa Romeo lol

[Biggles146]

What complete twaddle.

The 159 is going to be replaced by the New Giulia, built on a completely new rear wheel drive floor. They've been working with Maserati on it for a while now. It'll be EPIC if they borrow something else from Maserati...

[Mongoose135]

The thing is, almost no car manufacturers have been making a profit lately, even some gigantic brands, and Alfa Romeo certainly isn't in that market. I think the investors need to stop thinking that Alfa Romeo needs to be a huge profit making company because it probably never will be. That doesn't mean it won't make profit, it just means they need to reduce their budget and focus on the market that buys alfas. I don't think Alfa Romeo is about cutting edge technology which is what they seem to be telling us lately, but it should be about decent cars that look great while still performing up to the standard of other competing cars.

In the end, there won't be any gain in designing completely new car platforms. I think the future of alfa romeo should be to use existing car platforms which have been proved reliable and good for driving, but have been made to look beautiful and follow the heritage of the company which makes people buy them in the first place. The mito is a prime example, as it uses the base platform made by fiat, but is altered to make it a unique car.

I think it may be for the best if Alfa Romeo separates from Fiat, i.e. it doesn't financially rely on fiat, but is owned by more dedicated investors who have more realistic projections of how much they will sell, so they can concentrate on making good cars without being criticised for not selling enough cars.

So in summary, lower the expenditure in technology/research and focus on designing the car, keeping production up to the demand and making dealership services excellent..

the end

[PR]

Article in ANE this morning.....


TURIN -- Fiat S.p.A. could freeze new investment in Alfa Romeo under a strategic review of the money-losing brand ordered by CEO Sergio Marchionne.



A product freeze is one of two alternatives that Fiat is considering to end years of losses and declining sales at its sporty premium brand.

The other option is to refresh Alfa's lineup using Chrysler platforms to replace the aging Alfa 159 sedan and wagon and the discontinued 166 flagship sedan.

Alfa's new-car sales have declined steeply in the past decade as its range became older and new products were delayed.

Now it seems that Marchionne is losing patience with the struggling brand.

Marchionne has ordered a review of Alfa to find out whether to allow the marque a final rebirth through Fiat's alliance with Chrysler or to leave the brand as it is with no new substantial investments after the introduction of the Giulietta lower-medium car in 2010.

"We need to work a lot harder on Alfa to make an intelligent decision that effectively preserves the highest possible value to Fiat," Marchionne told Automotive News Europe in an interview at Fiat's headquarters here.

Too many reinventions

Marchionne said Alfa had undergone too many reinventions.

"We need to stop doing it. You cannot be a newborn Christian every four years. It's the same religion, eventually you need to own a religion and carry it to conclusion," he said.

The two options for Alfa are:

• Replacing the 159 with a D-segment sedan and the 166 with an E-segment sedan built in North America on Chrysler platforms, but unique to Alfa and sold by Alfa worldwide.

• Freezing investment in the brand after the 147 hatchback is replaced by the Giulietta. This means that the 166 will not be replaced, leaving the brand with the Giulietta and the MiTo, Alfa's first small car, as its only fresh models. The rest of the Alfa range -- the 159, the Brera coupe, the Spider and the GT coupe will continue to be sold.

Last year, Alfa sold 103,000 new cars compared with 203,000 in 2000. The brand has lost between 200 million and 400 million euros a year in the past 10 years, sources said. Fiat does not release separate financial results for any of its brands.

Marchionne said Fiat's alliance with Chrysler could allow a high level of commonality between Alfa and the Chrysler platforms for the replacement of the 159 and 166, which was discontinued in 2007.

"Certainly the availability of D and E segment (platforms) in the United States which are capable of being Alfa Romeoized is there. We need to look at the economics of that opportunity," Marchionne said.

No Alfa-Dodge merger

Marchionne is expected to announce the future of Alfa early next year, when the Italian automaker presents its 2010 to 2014 business plan.

"By then we will know a lot more about what those architectures in the U.S. are capable of doing for Alfa," Marchionne said.

He said Alfa will not integrate with Chrysler's Dodge brand, which has been speculated in some press reports.

"The heritage of the Alfa and Dodge brands is completely different, the DNA is completely different. We would lose a lot of the appeal of Alfa Romeo if we try to Americanize it through a merger with Dodge," Marchionne said.

Marchionne said he is pleased with the Mito, which was introduced in July 2008, and the Giulietta, which is due in March 2010.

These two new products "are going to do a lot in advancing the DNA and the quality of the (Alfa) brand," he said.

Past failures

Fiat tried to reinvent Alfa with the introduction of the 156 in 1997. The 156 was hailed as a great-looking car. It had a platform specific to Alfa and was a huge success. Sales peaked at almost 120,000 units in 2000, but the 156 did not lead to an Alfa turnaround because no truly successful products followed it.

The 156-based 147 hatchback got off a good start after its launch in 2000 with over 100,000 units sold from 2001 to 2003.

But the arrival of German premium offerings such as the new Audi A3 in 2003 and the BMW 1-series in 2004 hit sales, forcing Alfa to lower the 147 market positioning to rival the VW Golf, a move that failed to halt the 147's sales slide.

In 2005, Fiat tried another reinvention for Alfa with the 159, Brera and Spider range.

These cars were based on a new platform but were plagued by excessive weight and low quality that always kept sales well below initial expectations of 120,000 units a year.

Sales of the 159, Brera and Spider range peaked at almost 80,000 units in 2007