Photo: Alfa Romeo
After putting the kibosh on the 4C Spider with the 33 Stradale Tributo, Alfa Romeo is bidding farewell to a mainstream car from its aging lineup. The Giulietta has been taken off the UK configurator, and other European markets will follow suit because the Tonale is waiting to pounce.
Speaking to Autocar.co.uk, product marketing boss Fabio Migliavacca explains that motorists now prefer SUVs instead of hatchbacks. That is probably the slowest reaction to a trend in the automotive market in the past decade, more so if you remember Ford’s announcement from April 2018.
Instead of beating a dead horse, the Blue Oval took the honorable decision of phasing out every single passenger car from the North American lineup with the understandable exception of the Mustang. The high-ranking executives at General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles followed suit, and can you blame them? After all, pickups and crossovers reign supreme.
This paradigm shift is noticeable in the European market as well, especially in the western and central parts of the Old Continent. Traditional people carriers (think station wagons and multi-purpose vehicles) are on a downward spiral for many years now, and Alfa Romeo was excruciatingly slow to react. The Stelvio alone isn’t enough to keep the century-old brand going even though the Stelvio is selling better than other models in the current lineup.
Including the 4C - which is a low-volume sports car addressed to the most enthusiastic of driving enthusiasts - the Italian automaker controlled by the Stellantis group has moved 35,718 vehicles in 2020 in the European Union. That’s 34.30 down on the previous year, which was down 53.48 percent on the 2018 result. The Giulietta sold 10,817 copies in 2020 as opposed to a high of 78,911 in 2011, and this brings us to another problem of this model.
Think for a moment about the Giulietta’s competitors. Are the Golf, Focus, or Civic more than a decade old? Are these rivals hampered down by an outdated interior and outdated engines? Alas, the compact hatchback will exit Alfa Romeo’s lineup with a sad whimper rather than a majestic bang.
Instead of beating a dead horse, the Blue Oval took the honorable decision of phasing out every single passenger car from the North American lineup with the understandable exception of the Mustang. The high-ranking executives at General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles followed suit, and can you blame them? After all, pickups and crossovers reign supreme.
This paradigm shift is noticeable in the European market as well, especially in the western and central parts of the Old Continent. Traditional people carriers (think station wagons and multi-purpose vehicles) are on a downward spiral for many years now, and Alfa Romeo was excruciatingly slow to react. The Stelvio alone isn’t enough to keep the century-old brand going even though the Stelvio is selling better than other models in the current lineup.
Including the 4C - which is a low-volume sports car addressed to the most enthusiastic of driving enthusiasts - the Italian automaker controlled by the Stellantis group has moved 35,718 vehicles in 2020 in the European Union. That’s 34.30 down on the previous year, which was down 53.48 percent on the 2018 result. The Giulietta sold 10,817 copies in 2020 as opposed to a high of 78,911 in 2011, and this brings us to another problem of this model.
Think for a moment about the Giulietta’s competitors. Are the Golf, Focus, or Civic more than a decade old? Are these rivals hampered down by an outdated interior and outdated engines? Alas, the compact hatchback will exit Alfa Romeo’s lineup with a sad whimper rather than a majestic bang.
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