January 17th – The Lucchettis are setting this up in St. Cloud at “Crabby Bills” Last year we all loved the “cruise” to get there and the good food we had once we arrived!
Fiat delays Alfa U.S. launch, scales down China plans
Luca Ciferri Automotive News Europe
October 27, 2008 06:01 CET
TURIN – Fiat has postponed the relaunch of its Alfa Romeo brand in the U.S. and scaled back its ambitions in China. "It would be simply crazy to invest in bringing Alfa back to a depressed U.S. market," Fiat Group Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne said in an analysts call. Marchionne is now planning to launch the Alfa Romeo in the U.S. in 2011 instead of 2010. Marchionne said his target to sell 300,000 Fiat cars a year in China by 2010 is now unreachable because of the global financial crisis. He has scaled down Fiat's 2010 ambition for China to 50,000 annual unit sales.
Currently, Fiat exports a few thousand cars to China, which are built in Italy and Turkey. These are sold at a loss to keep alive Fiat's Chinese dealer network.
Alfa Romeo will return to the U.S. market in 2010?.
By Douglas Kott Road &Track • Photos by Richard M. Baron and Courtesy of Alfa Romeo
Many details are shrouded in secrecy, but this much we know for sure: Alfa Romeo will return to the U.S. market in 2010, 15 years since the last front-drive, Pininfarina-designed 164 sedan brought Italian driving passion to American soil, and 16 years since the Alfa Spider was sold here.
Slideshow >>
Under parent company Fiat, Maserati has been the real ice-breaker, paving the way with its 2002–2007 Coupe and Spyder and now the Quattroporte and GranTurismo models. And so it follows that Alfa's first step will be a high-profile one, with the 450-bhp 8C Competizione Coupe and Spider (see Road Test, January 2008) to be sold through eight Maserati dealerships across the U.S. Alfa capped world production of each model at 500 units, with 84 Coupes and 95 Spiders earmarked for American buyers.
The future? Well, none of the current-generation European Alfas will make it over, but the next version of the pretty 159 sedan would follow nicely in the footsteps of the departed 164, no? Continuing with our speculation, wouldn't the MiTo, based on the Fiat Punto platform, be an excellent foil for the Mini? The MiTo offers a high degree of personalization options, both interior and exterior, that can change its demeanor from friendly to semi-sinister. Perhaps the best bet is an Alfa crossover, whose existence was confirmed by Alfa CEO Luca De Meo in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport.
Slideshow >>
An Alfa spokesperson did confide that turbodiesel powerplants will be part of the U.S. mix, and that the company is actively looking to manufacture cars somewhere in North America. Parts warehousing and distribution would be handled through CNH Global, a huge agricultural and construction equipment manufacturer with International Harvester in its portfolio, headquartered in Illinois and 90-percent owned by Fiat.
Bring it on, Alfa. We've got our stringback driving gloves at the ready.
