Photo: Alfa Romeo
While Volvo is working on the safety tech that will eliminate all deaths in its cars by 2020, Alfa Romeo delayed the Giulia’s launch due to mounting development challenges. One of those development challenges is that the Giulia sedan failed FCA's in-house front, side, and rear crash tests.
If memory serves you well, you may remember that November 2015 saw Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announce that the Giulia’s launch would have to wait. The reasons for the postponing? To refine safety and ride characteristics. Thanks to a more recent report, we now know more intimate details about the Giulia’s unsteady development process.
Multiple industry suppliers told Automotive News that the 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia failed miserably to pass the carmaker’s internal front, side, and rear crash tests. As it happens, extremely costly re-engineering had to be performed to make the Giulia safe in a crash. Supplier sources told the publication that this setback added 6 months to the model's development.
For the mid-sized sedan that’s supposed to spearhead the rejuvenation of Alfa Romeo after years of downfall in terms of sales volume and brand awareness, this kind of error is as lousy as lousy gets.
On a positive note, Fiat Chrysler has poached former Ferrari chief engineer Roberto Fedeli from BMW. Thanks to his technical expertise and vast know-how, Fedeli will fill the role of chief technical officer for Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
Fedeli prides himself on a career at Ferrari that spans over 26 years, plus a 16-month stint at BMW. The most challenging effort he took part in the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful Ferrari LaFerrari hypercar, the first-ever hybrid made by the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group.
We'll be keeping our fingers crossed Fiat Chrysler's returning talent will straighten the 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia to such an extent that the production version of the mid-sized sedan will receive the maximum safety rating from the Euro NCAP and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.
UPDATE: An FCA spokesperson told Road&Track that Automotive News' report is "not accurate or representative at all," without offering any details whatsoever about the matter. The spokesperson also told that the US-spec Giulia in QV form will begin production late in the second quarter of 2016. The truth of the matter is FCA is still reluctant to explain why Alfa Romeo's original business plan got delayed by two years.
Multiple industry suppliers told Automotive News that the 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia failed miserably to pass the carmaker’s internal front, side, and rear crash tests. As it happens, extremely costly re-engineering had to be performed to make the Giulia safe in a crash. Supplier sources told the publication that this setback added 6 months to the model's development.
For the mid-sized sedan that’s supposed to spearhead the rejuvenation of Alfa Romeo after years of downfall in terms of sales volume and brand awareness, this kind of error is as lousy as lousy gets.
On a positive note, Fiat Chrysler has poached former Ferrari chief engineer Roberto Fedeli from BMW. Thanks to his technical expertise and vast know-how, Fedeli will fill the role of chief technical officer for Alfa Romeo and Maserati.
Fedeli prides himself on a career at Ferrari that spans over 26 years, plus a 16-month stint at BMW. The most challenging effort he took part in the bite-the-back-of-your-hand beautiful Ferrari LaFerrari hypercar, the first-ever hybrid made by the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group.
We'll be keeping our fingers crossed Fiat Chrysler's returning talent will straighten the 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia to such an extent that the production version of the mid-sized sedan will receive the maximum safety rating from the Euro NCAP and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration.
UPDATE: An FCA spokesperson told Road&Track that Automotive News' report is "not accurate or representative at all," without offering any details whatsoever about the matter. The spokesperson also told that the US-spec Giulia in QV form will begin production late in the second quarter of 2016. The truth of the matter is FCA is still reluctant to explain why Alfa Romeo's original business plan got delayed by two years.
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