Marchionne: New Five-Year Plan For Alfa Romeo :Comments

[William Maley]

William Maley

Staff Writer - CheersandGears.com

November 4, 2013

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has announced that a new five-year revival program for Alfa Romeo is in the works and will be introduced next year.

"We continue to work in a pretty determined fashion in trying to reshape the Alfa Romeo platform and I think we will be in a position to outline more at the end of the first quarter of 2014," said Marchionne.

For those keeping score, this is Marchionne's forth revival plan for the brand within nine years.

The plan focuses on a new rear- and all-wheel drive architecture that is reportedly being developed. This platform will underpin four new models: Guilia sedan and wagon, flagship sedan, and a mid-size SUV. The architecture will likely be used for Chrysler and Dodge products as well. A source tells Automotive News that this new architecture will underpin the next-generation Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger.

With this new plan comes something we're used to with Alfa Romeo: Delays! The earliest we begin seeing the new vehicles is around late 2015 or early 2016.

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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[G. David Felt]

Maybe like GM, it is time to just KILL Alfa Romeo and let it live in the history books. One can only have so many revival plans before it is a lost cause and this is clearly a lost cause.

[Carguy]

I (LOVE) the idea of Alfa Romeo returning to RWD then spreading the cost by using the platform for other Dodge,SRT and Chrysler models! This could be very worth the delay!

[G. David Felt]

I do not see it surviving at the current rate of lost sales:

Last year the brand barely sold 100.000 units in the whole world, down 29% circa.

The brand is far from the late 80′s/early 90′s when it sold 144.000 units only in Italy (6% market share). Last year it had to deal with only 2 models, as the 159′s production ended.

In Italy, which counts for 42% of the brand’s sales, its registrations fell a massive 28%.

2013 Alfa Romeo may sell around 70.000 units, which is extremely bad.

Full Details see here: http://fiatgroupworld.com/2013/05/04/alfa-romeo-sales-2012-full-year-analysis/

Over All, either they need to make it a niche model with a smaller profitable number of auto's or kill it and invest the R&D dollars into Fiat & Chrysler.

[Drew Dowdell]

I just hope they can keep the character of the Charger/Challenger/300. I DO NOT want them to be turned into "European Sports Sedans".... I like my big, cushy, "S-Class on a Budget", 300C as the sledge hammer wrapped in a pillow it is today thanks...

[Robert Hall]

I just hope they can keep the character of the Charger/Challenger/300. I DO NOT want them to be turned into "European Sports Sedans".... I like my big, cushy, "S-Class on a Budget", 300C as the sledge hammer wrapped in a pillow it is today thanks...

Yes..the size and heft is a big part of the appeal of those cars to me. They aren't about light and nimble.

[Drew Dowdell]

I just hope they can keep the character of the Charger/Challenger/300. I DO NOT want them to be turned into "European Sports Sedans".... I like my big, cushy, "S-Class on a Budget", 300C as the sledge hammer wrapped in a pillow it is today thanks...

Yes..the size and heft is a big part of the appeal of those cars to me. They aren't about light and nimble.

The thing is, even though the LX cars are large, they can still dance. The Charger R/T is a better dancer than the 300C of course, but people have to compare them to cars of the same size, not just cars of the same price.

[Robert Hall]

I just hope they can keep the character of the Charger/Challenger/300. I DO NOT want them to be turned into "European Sports Sedans".... I like my big, cushy, "S-Class on a Budget", 300C as the sledge hammer wrapped in a pillow it is today thanks...

Yes..the size and heft is a big part of the appeal of those cars to me. They aren't about light and nimble.

The thing is, even though the LX cars are large, they can still dance. The Charger R/T is a better dancer than the 300C of course, but people have to compare them to cars of the same size, not just cars of the same price.

Oh yeah, they definitely aren't old school full size floaters... I've only driven a V6 300 of this generation, but it drove quite nicely a couple years ago around a variety of roads over a long weekend in N. California...

Edited November 4, 2013 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[balthazar]

The History Book of Hindsight is laden with examples of companies who refuse to look in the Mirror of Relevence...

[jwbouch]

I LOVE my Charger RT with Road and Track Package! When I was in Ohio recently to visit family, my brother took my car for a ride. We took a 35 mph S turn at about 80 mph. It's a pretty fun car!

Edited November 4, 2013 by jwbouch