Yes it nice if they make it happen 2014? i like that spider put right next to my gtv Tony Image Unavailable, Please Login
Right! You are right. An Alfa should look like an Alfa and drive like a BMW. But this won`t happen, because BMW is simply out of reach. Far out of reach. Unfortunately!
With the proliferation of 3 series I see them everywhere, including my own. An Italian alternative is what is needed desperately in this class. Audi had their comeback begin with the A4 and that's where Alfa needs to start. The spider, 4 c and the 159 replacement should be the first wave of products.
This would sell. Alfa has ALWAYS been about style. I don't understand why Chrysler doesn't understand that. Alfa has ALWAYS been about niche marketing also. If they think they can sell more than 20K of any Alfa model a year, they are crazy. It's not Fiat's solution to the US market. But, it's a great brand that can help supplement lagging 500 sales. I would buy a new good looking spider in a heartbeat.
The Disco concept from the Geneva Autoshow. Interesting, but the rear does not look that "Disco". Will be built in limited numbers on a Alfa/Maserati 8C chassis. Any other Geneva Alfa photos yet?? Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012 Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120306/OPINION03/203060316/Marchionne--Fiat-needs-to-take-a-cue-from-Chrysler From the FIAT chairman: "The next days of Alfa, the way in which it becomes a full, legitimate, premium brand, is by coming to the U.S.," he said. "And the U.S. now, because of what we have been able to do with Chrysler, has got first dibs — and probably undeniable dibs — to try and play as the producing country for the relaunch of Alfa. "We're now looking at the United States as being not only a production hub for Alfa, but also the basis on which the brand itself is going to be relaunched. That car is going to be manufactured in the bloody United States. If we had done this on our own — and I mean Fiat now — out of Europe, we would have been dealing with a much more restrictive market." Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
Here are the 2011 figures of Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia in Germany: (units/ market share/ ranking) Fiat 80126 2,52 % 12 Alfa 10480 0,33 % 27 Lancia 2344 0,074 % 34 Here are the 2011 figures of the eastern European car companies for comparison: Skoda (VW/Czech Republic) 142611 4,49 % 7 Dacia (Renault/Romania) 41237 1,30 % 18 Lada (Russia) 2031 0,06 % 35 Famous Lancia sells as much as prehistoric Russian Lada (Niva). Dacia sells about 4 times Alfa Romeo and someday Dacia will even overtake Fiat. Skoda is out of reach. Top Ten: VW 686833 21,64 % 1 Mercedes 285651 9,00 % 2 BMW 257094 8,10 % 3 Opel 254605 8,02 % 4 Audi 250708 7,90 % 5 Ford 230939 7,08 % 6 Skoda 142611 4,49 % 7 Renault 119129 3,75 % 8 Hyundai 86866 2,74 % 9 Peugeot 82743 2,61 % 10 http://www.autohaus.de/sixcms/media.php/2141/Hersteller_12_2011.pdf The US-market is of course different to the German market, but it`s a long way to go! Alfa will sell some cars, but will they sell enough? BMW and Audi alone outsell Alfa 50 times! I`m sure Alfa engineers could built a decent car to compete with BMW, Audi, etc. Let`s say 300 hp, V6, rear wheel drive (!), a decent chassis and a high quality. But to achieve their competitors levels they needed much time and a lot of money! Do they have enough time and money?
It reminds me of the Lancia Fulvia Concept of 2003. They never built it. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Some of these concept cars, like this one, are so amazingly beautiful and work, because the originals just nailed it. I can't understand why they don't build a number of them, seems they would sell easily, again, like this simple design Fulvia re-make. The Alfa GTV modern concept car is simple and stunning as well, just build the damn thing! just rambling thoughts
The GTV concept is a photoshop of the spider concept with a roof and new front. I think also that they should have built several of the concepts since they were better than the cars they ended up making. The Proteo and Viola come to mind, but instead they made the bland 116 spider in the mid 1990's. This Disco and the TZ3's are being made in limited numbers provided you have alot of cash to give them. On the article it seems they are switching the planned Canadian Alfa production to possibly Michigan/Ohio and Illinois. I think they realize they have to make the Alfa's special, not just rebodied Chryslers. Expect some very good looking cars from Alfa, but I only hope they also look good under the skin. Like I said before, the ALL NEW Alfa only 1750 alloy turbo motor is a very good sign they will be. Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
Alfa will have to share platforms....ferrari/maserati, vw/porsche/audi all do it. Elsewhere chrysler is looking to do a smaller/lighter rwd replacement for the challenger. Such a rwd platform could be the basis of a new alfa spider/sedan. I'd do a 2L turbo motor as the engine.
The Disco looks better in person it seems. The real Geneva photos of the car look very good compared to the retouched photos. http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/06/touring-superlegerra-disco-volante-concept-alfa-geneva-2012/ Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
Comparing volume and market share without mentioning price seems misleading. Anyway, if Fiat were to partner with Mazda, maybe they could get some small rwd platforms. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-06/marchionne-sees-fiat-needing-asia-partner-after-gm-peugeot-cars.html
Maybe yes. But Fiat/Alfa/Lancia is always cheaper than e.g. a VW/Audi/Merc/BMW of the same size. It`s a lot about quality. Fiat should compete with VW, Alfa with BMW and Lancia with Mercedes in a perfect automobile world. But to do this they needed to invest heavily. They can`t. "Mazda has a capital alliance with Ford and technical alliances with seven different companies worldwide, and for now, we have no plans to have another capital alliance, Kozue Nitta, a Mazda spokeswoman, said yesterday. " Mazda won`t be nuts. They build very decent cars. I don`t think Marchionnes expansion strategy is feasible. He could instead shut down Lancia and two italian plants, sell Alfa to VW, invest the money in Fiat and concentrate on the US-market with Chrysler.
I don't think they will sell Alfa at this point as they have started to dump to much money into the brand already. Not sure why everyone loves the VW idea so much. To me Alfa would just become a VW with an Alfa logo just like SEAT is a VW and AUDI is a VW with more options(other than the high end Audi R8 wich is a Lamborghini with an ugly body and horrid and huge front grill and side vent styling things behind the door). Also, we already have Audi and VW in N.A. I want something new and fresh other than all the boring Asian and same American/European cars we already have. A rebadged VW we already have. Its hard to tell the VW's and Audi's apart anymore from a couple 100 feet away. Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
Well, because VW has the money and the multi brand strategy. BMW would also be fine, but I think they have other plans. And I think it`s not so much much loving the VW idea than fearing the other options. I have been at the Swiss Alfa Romeo forum for quite some time. They don`t have an own automobile industry to favor. They are pretty italophil, because a lot of them are capable of the language. And they usually have the money to buy the cars. Yet at some point they started buying all kinds of brands. French, Swedish, German, Japanese, etc. The forum almost died in the mean time. Page 81 to 85: http://www.alfisti.ch/forum/showthread.php?t=6199&page=81
They sound like the guys at alfabb...They would rather the brand just die or be sold from the Italians. I am not so sure about that. I remember Alfa always being a screwed up company going back to the 1980's and even before my time. If M does what he says he will Alfa should do well and be a special marque again. We will have to wait and see. After what happened to SEAT I do not want VW near Alfa. They will turn them into VW's. FIAT might also do the same and turn them into Chryslers, but the 1750 Alloy turbo motor is giving me hope they will not. If in 5 years FIAT has not turned Alfa around let them die or be sold. It also still looks like the CUV will be the first Alfa in N.A. sometime in mid 2013(does that suprise anyone). They will introduce the 4C at the Detroit Auto Show in 2014. If the cuv has the new 300hp 1750 turbo motor and is less than 3500lbs it should be the fastest street Alfa ever sold in N.A., other than the Alfa 8C. The 4C will bump it when it comes out in N.A. I will not buy a cuv or SUV but Americans and Europeans seem to love them for non intercity driving. Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
One of the sources is alfamaven on alfabb. He is either a very smart reporter who has talked to people on the inside or he works for FIAT/Chrysler. Whatever he is he does know what he has been talking about. M proved him correct on several items over the last few months. Here is what alfamaven has to say about the CUV coming early in 2013.. Quote: "In a test market, the Giulietta c- evo chassis was considered too narrow for our market and too costly to re-engineer. The cuv will have stretched and slightly modified Giulietta bodywork on the C-US wide platform with a better engine and improved suspension exclusive to alfa. Tooling is now being installed at the Toledo jeep works with launch scheduled for early 2013. Dealers have been informed. The cuv is going to be a huge hit, since specs are top notch. The engine and suspension are alfa exclusives. Bodywork is slightly stretched and modified Giulietta with more room. Hardware is upgraded by Mopar using 409 stainless for the exhaust with italian tuning. A seven speed DCT will be offered along with AWD. Runflat tires is its only fault which is easily remedied as explained earlier. That's due to politics with the tire makers". If they use that 300hp 1750 motor I might just have to buy one. Here is the testmule picture of the CUV again. Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012 Image Unavailable, Please Login
Reminds me of a Euro Giulietta that found its way to the US already: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wvmikep/6347461426/in/photostream/
It's based on that, but it looks like it sits higher and has bigger wheels. I did see a plane load of those Giulietta's come in to O'hare airport back in 2010. I forgot my rule number 1, never buy an SUV or CUV. I will wait for the real Alfa Romeo coupe/touring sedan. I am sure alot of people will love the CUV. Tom Tanner/Ferrari Expo 2012-Chicago March 17th 2012
I am in Italy at the moment and I managed to get a rental Giulietta diesel from Avis. What a blast of a car!! Most of the times one forgets it is a diesel and as far as roadholding and haldling I will only say: it is a true Alfa! I would love to get this car as a DD any day in the US!