William Maley
Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com
December 3, 2013
Last month, we reported that Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne was hard at work on a new revival plan for Alfa Romeo that would be announced sometime next spring. But the crafty folks at Automotive News have talked with sources at the company and suppliers and have a possible rough idea of what this plan will look like.
The plan will focus on a new rear and all-wheel-drive architecture that will underpin a number of future Alfa vehicles. In turn, these new vehicles will play a crucial role of selling 300,000 vehicles worldwide by 2016.
What are these new vehicles? The big one is the long-rumored Giulia. Originally planned to be launched next year, the 3-Series competitor has been pushed back to late-2015 at the earliest because of this new architecture. This architecture will also underpin a new large sedan that was originally planed to use the Maserati Ghibli's architecture. Other possibilities for this architecture include a midsize and large coupe.
Then there are the crossover and SUVs. First is a small crossover that would use the Jeep Compass/Patriot replacement as a base. Next is a midsize model that would use the new RWD/AWD architecture. Finally, there is a large SUV that is under consideration. This model could use the upcoming Maserati Levante as a base.
Roadsters are expected to play a key role as well as the new Roadster that is being jointly worked on with Mazda is expected to arrive in 2015. Also coming is a convertible version of the 4C.
One surprise from the Automotive News report is that MiTo and Giulietta will live on to fight another day. No word if they will be coming to U.S. or not.
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
William Maley is a staff writer for Cheers & Gears. He can be reached at [email protected] or you can follow him on twitter at @realmudmonster.
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