Alfa Romeo's New Giulia To Take On the Germans With Ferrari Designed V6

Article: Alfa Romeo and Maserati boss Harold Wester says they will "re-invent the Alfa Romeo brand."

I believe that means "we're gonna market the hell out of it to try to change what people think about these cars, which have a lengthy history of being quirky, problematic, and unreliable."

Hiring the advertising company that successfully convinced Americans that the Mini was a much-loved and long-missed brand that was making a triumphant return would work.

Sergio made a HUGE mistake giving the FCA Miata to Fiat because having two mainstream products on the dealer's lot would create a sense of revitalized momentum. Putting the Giulietta out as a GTI/Cooper S competitor could be easily done.

I hope Alfa Romeo doesn't keep the Giulia from American shores for a year like the idiots at Jaguar are doing with the XE.

MDarringer: Your reference to MINI might not apply here. MINI had a very loyal following, and a pretty good reputation. BMW exploited that by creating a completely new car that took its styling cues from the MINI, thereby exploiting that pre-existing positive mind-share.

Alpha Romeo doesn't have that positive history to draw upon. That's a huge difference.

In general - most high end cars had histories of being quirky - and needing extensive and expensive maintenance and repairs.

Cadillac has already shown that it can produce competitive product that sits on the lots like an anchor. Making a less competitive product with "soul" will be just as effective - the idea that Alfa is going to sell in the numbers projected for the USA is nonsense. THey have a better chance in europe though. Here - they will sell in low numbers similar to Maserati - and be a bust for FCA.

TheSteve...your comment shows that the advertising worked. If Mini had a loyal following--all 12 of them--that was not enough to sustain a brand. Mini's from the few years in the 60s when they were imported were poorly built and broke down alarmingly. So again, the advertising worked on you.

^^^
MDarringer: You're getting two things confused: (1) Reliability and few defects, vs (2) Nostalgia. Do you think the original Volkswagen Beetle was a well engineered, low-defects, high-reliability car? It was underpowered, clattered like a diesel, and had a virtually useless heater in winter... and yet, when VW reintroduced the new Bug, which like the MINI drew only styling cues and shared none of the original design, it sold in meaningful numbers.

The power of nostalgia can be a very powerful thing. MINI had that going for it, as did the Beetle. I don't believe there is an Alpha Romeo for which North Americans are nostalgic.

"Autocar understands that the car will be rear-wheel drive and the structure substantially new, although it does share some elements with the Maserati Ghibli."

Translation: The Giulia will be a shortened/narrowed Ghibli which was heavily based on the Chrysler 300.

I wonder whether the Giulia will also produce a Challenger that is less gargantuan than the current one.