The Return Of the Italians! Alfa Romeo Places BMW And Audi On Notice

In my anything-but-humble-opinion, Cadillac stands a far better chance of being recognized as a premium brand (in the US) than Alpha Romeo, and we all know what a struggle is has been for them in recent decades. Perhaps perception of Alpha Romeo abroad is more favorable than on this side of the pond.

Let's assume the product is competent--big assumption--it will all come down to pricing the cars well well below the competitors to buy market share, a Hyundai-like warranty to calm the obvious fears, and MARKETING.

As I've said before, they need to hire the team that convinced Americans that their beloved Mini was making a triumphant return.

The reality for the real Mini was that it was not sold for very long in the USA and it was an unreliable British crapstorm. Unlike the Beetle, the Mini did not have a large fan base in the USA, but the advertising company created that impression and brought people into it.

BMW's advertising company worked a miracle and Alfa Romeo needs that miracle.

Alfa may also need more than a single model. Also it is kind of hard to sell a premium product under the same roof next to a Fiat 500.

Not only do they need more than one model, they need a near-premium bridge model or three.

There literally is no reason that the Giulietta could not be in the showrooms right now and all tarted up to be a Cooper S/GTI competitor. Giving the Miata to Fiat was DUMB. They should have kept the Spider.

The Giulietta gave birth to the Dart, Cherokee, and 200 so federalizing it should have been a snap. Moreover, reskinning the Cherokee for a near-premium Alfa crossover--along with the Giulietta and Spider--would have given them showroom traffic that would have made the Giulia a logical progression.

The Giulia is an illogical progression.

I also think naming it Giulia in the USA would be a hellishly dumb move. There are a lot of guys that won't want to drive around in a car with a girl's name on it.

Giorgio would make much better sense as a name and would also give a nod to the car's supposedly "all new" "Giorgio" platform.

I see a clusterblam botch coming.

Cadillac IS a premium brand of vehicles (remembering that their SUVs and CUV sell better than their cars) - and they cannot sell their cars because they don't suit the American Driver. I suspect the new Lincoln Continental will sell very well -there is a lot of pent up demand for an American Style Luxury car - that the people can trade in their Town Car for.

The problem is - All of these cars - instead of targeting a specific audience of buyers - has targeted a particular BRAND of small premium sporty cars. There are only so many buyers who want a two seat (Most of the back seats are parcel shelves at best) no spare tire no trunk space vehicle - no matter how well it handles and no matter how fast it can go.So - they split up an already limited market. Adding Alfa to the mix is just going to dilute this market more in the USA. While Europe may be different for Alfa - they will not make a dent in the US car market any time soon.

You're absolutely right.

I'd have placed Alfa Romeo as a near-premium brand in the FCA food chain. It should have been the place here the Italian competitors to the Cooper S/GTI and Subarus were housed. Maserati is FCA's premium brand. It does not need two. With Chrysler no longer near-premium, FCA has no near-premium brand.

To be blunt, I think the Hyundai Genesis has a better shot at being honestly recognized as a premium product by snobs rather than Alfa Romeo.

I really cannot stand Subarus, but I will give the company credit for VERY successfully carving out a near-premium space for itself with a robust business case.

Inhabiting that space first and demonstrating quality would have allowed Alfa to climb into premium.

I think there's a lot of value in Italian design and charm. If the new Alfa sedan (Giulia name has NOT been confirmed) is beautiful and competent, it will do very well in the US. Being based on the Ghibli platform and having a Ferrari designed V6 certainly won't hurt.