U.S. Head of Alfa Romeo Says Sedan, SUV To Be Here By 2017 :Comments

[William Maley]

Alfa Romeo is planning to have four models in its U.S. lineup by 2017. This summer will see will the 4C Spyder join the 4C coupe. After that, a new sedan and SUV will be coming according to Alfa Romeo's U.S. head Reid Bigland.

Bigland tells Automotive News that Alfa Romeo's new sedan - designed to compete with the Audi A4, BMW 3-Series, and Mercedes-Benz C-Class - will debut in June in Italy, with sales in the U.S. beginning next year. In previous reports, we have been calling it the Giulia. But Bigland says the name for the new sedan is being hashed-out.

“I’m confident that it’s going to blow your Italian socks off when you look at the specifications associated with this vehicle,” said Bigland.

Following the sedan will be the SUV which will take on the Audi Q5 and BMW X3. This is expected to land in the U.S. either in the forth quarter of next year, or in 2017.

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[Drew Dowdell]

I'll believe it when I see it.

[Paolino]

I've heard this song.  God, even my CST (Content Specialty Test) in Italian when I was becoming a teacher had a question about why Alfa Romeo pulled out from coming to the US.  And that was a decade ago.

[balthazar]

Are there really any measurable quantity of buyers waiting for a Alfa-Romeo??

[aurora97]

So long as there are girls at the Auto Show exhibit like these every time Alfa Romeo comes to town, then you can count me as a buyer;

 

http://www.carbuzz.com/news/2015/1/14/Check-Out-The-Gorgeous-Girls-of-The-2015-Detroit-Auto-Show-7724842/

[G. David Felt]

So their Models at the auto show will be more reliable than the auto's. Maybe by 2027 is what he meant. 

[Drew Dowdell]

Are there really any measurable quantity of buyers waiting for a Alfa-Romeo??

 

I think we need to see the models that come over first.  Had the Alfa-Romeo 159 been sold in the US, I absolutely would have bought one. 

 

[aurora97]

I am a big fan of the Italian exotic.....

[balthazar]

The stance nailed down but other than that, it looks like another car's front clip attached to something else. I also don't care for that front clip at all, looks kinda cheap to my eye. What would this go for in the U.S., MSRP-wise?

[Robert Hall]

The 159 had a bit of Acura TL in the profile...always liked the front end, the triple lights and offset license plate did it for me..so different than the typical sports sedan front. The dash was very nice also..I've seen these in person in Italy, really good looking in person..I liked the Brera coupe also.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Cubical-aka-Moltar

[Robert Hall]

I've heard this song.  God, even my CST (Content Specialty Test) in Italian when I was becoming a teacher had a question about why Alfa Romeo pulled out from coming to the US.  And that was a decade ago.

When I was in grad school in the mid 90s a colleague of mine was going on and on for a while about getting an Alfa Romeo Spyder Graduate when he graduated...I pointed out that Alfa had left the US a couple years before, he was very dissapointed and wondered why...

[G. David Felt]

 

Personally the more I look at this the more Bland and just plain boring this car is.

[ehaase]

Reviving Alfa Romeo will be as great and maybe greater challenge that the revival of Cadillac has been.

[G. David Felt]

With the terrible quality of auto's in the larger family, this is a waste of valuable R&D dollars that should be invested in the other product lines to make them solid and grow their already established low Quality  to a higher one. This is truly a waste of money.

[Drew Dowdell]

 

Personally the more I look at this the more Bland and just plain boring this car is.

Keep in mind that this car was released in 2005 and ended it's run in 2011. It splits the Acura TSX and TL in size. So keep in mind what it would have been competing with in 2005 in the US.... The first gen CTS, the first gen TLX, the first gen Lexus IS, and the first gen Infiniti G35. Thought of in that crowd, the Alfa 159 seems quite competitive visually.

They also came in an attractive wagon which I'm sure we would not have gotten.

They are also built on a GM platform that we never got here in the US.

[G. David Felt]

That is good information that I was not aware of. I find it interesting, but also still feel it is a waste of money to try and revive this name plate to the US when they have so many quality problems on product lines already here. It would make better sense to investing in making the existing products top in their market segments than to bring in another name plate.

[FAPTurbo]

Are there really any measurable quantity of buyers waiting for a Alfa-Romeo??

 

I'd imagine Audi and Acura would be worried if Alfa were to establish a presence here. My way, Audi tends to cater to people wanting an 'anti BMW,' either for perceived sportiness and/or lack of 'douchebag-factor.' Audi's been very aggressive in targeting younger people who are interested in modern design. 

 

Looking at the 159, it's far more emotive than anything Audi or Acura have put out even recently. If Alfa were to debut anything like the Giuletta at a near-lux price point, it could eat into A3 and ILX sales.