[Joe90GT]

Alfa building an SUV and calling it the Stelvio, there are two things wrong with that,... actually everything is wrong with that,- I know its for commercial reasons but just leave the boring ugly stuff to Fiat for gods sake

 

[mapalfa]

Alfa building a town car and calling it the MiTo when everyone knows it's a re-bodied Fiat? You might not like the idea of an Alfa SUV, and I do understand why, but if there's a market then it needs to make them. I would argue that an SUV is a more logical next step than a replacement for the Spider, regardless of what the purists might want.

If Alfa isn't a commercially viable business then we won't get the GTAs and QVs etc that you seem to want them to solely produce.

 

[Joe90GT]

Fiat should treat Alfa like Ford did with Jag, allow it to make lower volume higher range production models - preferably sporty ones, after all Fiat already make a SUV and is anyone really going to buy a Alfa SUV because they think it comes with soul and will storm up the Stelvio in record time giving the driver huge enjoyment at the same time
I think Fiat is trying to close Alfa down without spending too much doing it by destroying its reputation, the new Spider should have been an Alfa not a Fiat as an example.
As I said I do understand the commercial reasons for this move but quite honestly I would rather Alfa go to the wall with its reputation intact rather them than build "lifestyle" vehicles but that's just MHO

 

[Giorget2]

Alfa building an SUV and calling it the Stelvio, there are two things wrong with that,... actually everything is wrong with that,- I know its for commercial reasons but just leave the boring ugly stuff to Fiat for gods sake

Car makers like Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Audi etc. (even the unproven Jaguar and Bentley offerings) are building SUVs at very little cost on existing platforms and coining it.

Why should Alfa not do this? Even to "subsidise" more fringe models.

A Fiat-badged product is never going to compete against a Porsche or Merc-badged product. You could possibly argue that they should put all their efforts into the Levante, but the VW group isn't doing badly with SUV offerings from VW, Porsche and Audi, are they?

 

[CorporalSparrow]

I don't have a problem with Alfa building an SUV. Except it should be the performance SUV. They built the Matta. And the Colli Giardiniera. So it wouldn't be the first time they did practical. But...it shouldn't be called the Stelvio. That name should be reserved for something fundamentally sporting. Which this isn't.

 

[cue2]

Fiat should treat Alfa like Ford did with Jag, allow it to make lower volume higher range production models - preferably sporty ones, after all Fiat already make a SUV and is anyone really going to buy a Alfa SUV because they think it comes with soul and will storm up the Stelvio in record time giving the driver huge enjoyment at the same time
I think Fiat is trying to close Alfa down without spending too much doing it by destroying its reputation, the new Spider should have been an Alfa not a Fiat as an example.
As I said I do understand the commercial reasons for this move but quite honestly I would rather Alfa go to the wall with its reputation intact rather them than build "lifestyle" vehicles but that's just MHO

There are people in some countries who think the sports cars made by Porsche are the add-ons to the range as the Cayenne is the big seller there. Jaguar no longer belongs to Ford and continues to be subsidised by LandRover as part of JLR. The new Spider is not an Alfa as all Maseratis and Alfas are Italian built and Fiats are sourced in Poland and so on. The Spider is Japanese. Lifestyle models are by definition the cars people buy so I don't see any reason Alfa shouldn't build them instead of 3-box cars which are a dying breed; the Giulia....

 

[Joe90GT]

Just a personal opinion - Alfa were renowned for their engineering but that went bye the bye some time ago - I'm saying that by building a SUV Fiat have hit the final nail in the coffin holding Alfa's reputation home.

 

[cue2]

Volvo were renowned for being the safety brand but now a Giulietta scores just as well on ncap. Things change. The current range sales are not sustainable so Alfa needs to make cars in the categories that actually sell. BMW and Mercedes can only make their Z4 etc because they shift enough fleet cars so why shouldn't Alfa try the same?

 

[alfaspecial]

I'm not a fan of SUVs. But there is a market for them. Even Bentley have made one. (Bentayga). And Alfa make diesels.
So I suppose AR feel obligated to follow current trends rather than follow the path less travelled
My real problem is the name Alfa Romeo "Stelvio". I can picture the marketing people, all silver hair & designer glasses, coming up with the name "Stelvio".
" Ahhhah", they say "The Stelvio Pass 9000 feet of high altitude outdoor lifestyle opportunities - in the ads we can have beautiful people para gliding / para sailing / paraletic."

What they miss is the magic of the name "Stelvio Pass" and what it does for us car bores. We think of a Miura -Italian Job (OK that was Col du Petit St Bernard AKA the S26) but you know what I mean!

 

[swq4]

Stelvio is also currently used by Moto-Guzzi...have the lawyers thought this through.
Actually has anyone at Alfa actually thought anything through in the last decade

 

[sparkeysprite]

Porsche SUVs more than doubled their sales volume and justified their investment in sports cars. I don't see that denting the value of classic Porsches...

Prior to the introduction of the Cayenne and Macan, Porsche made (much) more money on the stock market than they made manufacturing and selling cars.

The alternative would be what Fiat did to the other great historic Italian Brand, Lancia - the embarrassment of rebadging Chryslers for several years and now nothing (which is probably better than rebadged crap).

If making Alfa Romeo SUVs pays for them to make cars like the 4C (which is very unlikely to make any profit for them at all), then I hope they make plenty..

S..

(although I also wish they didn't have to..)

 

[Joe90GT]

Stelvio is also currently used by Moto-Guzzi...have the lawyers thought this through.
Actually has anyone at Alfa actually thought anything through in the last decade

Its a good name for a Guzzi but not a SUV of any make - do people really believe they are being cool and carefree when they buy a SUV, god help us

Good point about Lancia - another engineering great wiped of the face of the earth, guess I'm just getting to be an old and grumpy Petrolhead

 

[Almo]

It won't look like this if it goes through Fiat.....

 

[swq4]

Ok I'll buy one with AWD as a fishing wagon once they are two years old unless I mysteriously arrive at place in life where I can buy one new (after buying a 4c!)