Photo: Alfa Romeo
A number of official sources hint that the Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. subsidiary will change its status into a stand-alone legal entity. According to a report publicized by Automotive News Europe, Sergio Marchionne will unveil its latest strategy to save Alfa Romeo on May 6, 2014.
The Fiat-Chrysler CEO most probably intends to make this change in order to bring Alfa Romeo back to profit as soon as possible. However, this is a risky move for the Italian brand. First and foremost, Alfa is said to develop an all-new rear-wheel drive platform that will underpin future sedans and SUVs, models that could be equipped with powerplants co-developed with Ferrari.
Marchionne's ultimate goal is to move Alfa Romeo a further bit up the automotive scale in order steal clients that currently drive offerings from premium German automakers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. A number of six new models are due to be launched in the following years, all of which to be manufactured at Fiat's Italian factories. By not using these facilities at full capacity, the Fiat group lost nearly €520 million last year alone.
Two crossovers, a Mazda MX-5-based all-new Spider and a BMW 5 Series rival are four of the six models to be launched in the near future. The aforementioned publication hints that Harald Wester, who is the chief technical officer of Fiat Chrysler and CEO of Alfa Romeo, Abarth and Maserati, will be the number one man in the rejuvenated company. Alfa's headquarters may move from Turin to Modena, right next to Maserati and Ferrari.
Even though 90 percent of Alfas were sold last year in Europe alone, Sergio Marchionne plans to sell the new generation of models through 1,700 Jeep dealers located outside North America and Europe to broaden the brand's distribution network.
In other news, the iconic Italian brand returned in the U.S. after a 22-year hiatus with the debut of the 4C at this year's New York International Auto Show.
Story via Automotive News Europe
Marchionne's ultimate goal is to move Alfa Romeo a further bit up the automotive scale in order steal clients that currently drive offerings from premium German automakers such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. A number of six new models are due to be launched in the following years, all of which to be manufactured at Fiat's Italian factories. By not using these facilities at full capacity, the Fiat group lost nearly €520 million last year alone.
Two crossovers, a Mazda MX-5-based all-new Spider and a BMW 5 Series rival are four of the six models to be launched in the near future. The aforementioned publication hints that Harald Wester, who is the chief technical officer of Fiat Chrysler and CEO of Alfa Romeo, Abarth and Maserati, will be the number one man in the rejuvenated company. Alfa's headquarters may move from Turin to Modena, right next to Maserati and Ferrari.
Even though 90 percent of Alfas were sold last year in Europe alone, Sergio Marchionne plans to sell the new generation of models through 1,700 Jeep dealers located outside North America and Europe to broaden the brand's distribution network.
In other news, the iconic Italian brand returned in the U.S. after a 22-year hiatus with the debut of the 4C at this year's New York International Auto Show.
Story via Automotive News Europe
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