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Alfa Romeo Giulia Sales Figures Fall Short Of Automaker's Target

Introduced in Quadrifoglio flavor in 2015, the Giulia embodies the rebirth of Alfa Romeo. Series production started in April 2016 with high expectations from the higher-ups, but as it happens, the compact executive sedan is selling slower than the manufacturer had anticipated.
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio 1 photo
Photo: Dragos Savu/Alfa Romeo Romania
Head honcho Sergio Marchionne is expecting the Italian company to sell just about 170,000 vehicles globally in 2017, but the numbers are telling something else. Last year, for example, Alfa Romeo moved 73,000 units on a worldwide scale. The more worrying thing, however, is that the company sold less than 19,000 Giulias in Europe, its strongest market, in the period between May 2016 and April 2017.

That, as highlighted by Automotive News, is far off the mark Sergio was expecting from the Giulia. There’s also the problem of demand and market evolution, with customers now more enticed by high-riding crossovers than elegant sedans. It’s crystal clear, then, that Alfa Romeo has yet to bounce back to its former glory as a manufacturer.

There’s a silver lining in all this story, though, with the weight of the world hanging of the Stelvio. Recently launched in both Europe and the United States, there’s a bigger market out there for a sport utility vehicle such as the Stelvio. And with competition that includes the likes of the Jaguar F-Pace and Mercedes-Benz GLC, it will be tough for the Stelvio to prove its worth.

In the coming years, Alfa Romeo will step up its SUV game with two more products. By 2020, we’re in for an entry-level crossover that may bear the name of Kamal, a vehicle rumored to be offered only with four-cylinder powerplants. Then there’s a bigger-than-Stelvio flagship utility vehicle, which is expected to be christened Castello.

When all is said and done, the cold truth is that Alfa Romeo has disappointed yet again. And if sales will continue to drag their feet like a kid going to school, I’m afraid that the automaker’s long-expected rebirth will come to a grinding halt at some point in time. Fingers crossed it won’t, for losing Lancia is painful enough for us gearheads.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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