Is Alfa Romeo's Giulia ALREADY Disappointing BEFORE Its U.S. Debut? Delays Pushing Back Launch...

Disappointing beyond belief.

The utterly ridiculous gap from introduction of the Giulia to production of--initially--a year just said that engineering had not been completed. Then came delays attributed to crash safety, which added up to 6 months MORE to the timeline.

That suggests the vehicle is not finished being engineered, but--more importantly--that it's a low quality product relative to the Mercedes C. Mercedes would know for damn sure that the C Class would easily pass crash standards BEFORE announcing it.

Then came the Maserati Leshawnte that goes from introduction to production in 5 minutes. How is THAT possible? Well, it uses the Ghibli platform (Chrysler 300), the older version of Alfa Romeo’s supposedly all new--but not--Giorgio platform. The latter isn't ready because it's a cut down mongrel, but the former is old as dirt, so at least it's not a crap storm.

From what I've read about old Italian cars--you can't experience them easily because they rusted to pieces and stopped running upon sale--is that the engineering of those older models was half-assed and shockingly bad.

It seems that Italy hasn't grown up.

Italian cars from years ago in the USA were a lot like Jaguars - in that they looked good - but suffered from a myriad of electrical problems - but for the most part they suffered more from being designed for the European Market which was then quite distant from what Americans wanted in a car. So - just like the Fiat 500 is having sales problems now - they were simply too small. THe ones that did sell were the performance cars - and they were generally good rides when they worked. (By the way - A FIAT IS a low quality product compared to Mercedes - there were not many Alfa's to begin with and they didn't sell many - so there was no way to make a quality comparison.)

I believe that FCA needed to show SOMETHING to their investors to maintain their credit position - and that the Giulia was simply NOT REALLY READY when they showed it. But They needed to show something to make their often released and re-released projections sort of viable. I don't believe that they failed the tests - but that the cars were never ready to begin with. And now they are close......

There is NO question that FCA understands what will be necessary for AlFA to take a place at the top - The Chrysler people would know it too. AND they only get ONE shot this time. IF the Giulia turns out badly - FCA will not be able to recover - because they need something to make money - and European Manufacturers depend on their high end product for profit - more so than in the USA where trucks provide it.

Keeping it off the market until they are happy makes complete sense - so I will not characterize them as others have. I shows that at least they are trying.

The Giulia has already failed.

Never a good sign when its a delay followed by a delay followed by a delay.

The head scratcher for me is why the Giulia isn't a Maserati.

Sergio made a big push for Maserati. Dealers were added and a fair assumption--given that the dealers were stand-alone--would have been to have a product offensive.

Then Sergio lost focus and decided to rejuvenate Alfa Romeo, a dead and buried brand in the USA. The Giulia should have been a Maserati Mistral (or something) to give Maserati product.

Given that the Qporte, Ghibli, Giulia, and Levante are all based on an evolution of the Chrysler 300 chassis which itself was an evolution of a discontinued platform, FCA should be looking for a partner to do modern platform sharing. Genesis is the obvious choice.

And yes, the Giorgio platform is Chrysler 300 based. Just read up a bit. It's a shortened, narrowed Ghibli platform. It's all new in the sense that the dimensions have been altered.

Of course Maserati pricing is ridiculous and there are shocking discounts on them.

If someone is looking at a 5 Series or an E Class, he should look at the Ghibli because it can be had for cheap. Given that it's a Chrysler 300 (except for revised front suspension) it's reliable-ish and a hoot to drive.

Imagine the discount on a brand new 2014.

PS: a Hellcat V8 will bolt into the Ghibli, but the hood won't close. :)

Remembering that these are European brands - the Maserati was always considered to be more exotic than high Luxury - more like a Ferrari underling. And FCA has said that it plans to have Maserati replace Ferrari as its profit leader - so it will have to bring out some exotic cars to do so. But while they projected high sales - it will never achieve them.

The Alfa is actually being placed as more of a Premium Mass Market competitor for the 3/C series. So they are pointing to a different perceived market space with it.

THe real problem is that the European leaders at FCA do not really GET that in the USA - almost all of these (Except Ferrari) have very POOR reputations - where in Europe they are still OK. People in the USA compare FIAT to YUGO - and YUGO may win on reliability. ANd FEW people still alive in the USA have ever driven a USA Alfa Model car. But we do remember that horrid Chrysler Maserati that was produced for us.

Is Alfa dead- I don't think so - but it really depends on the Giulia being a real competitor to the others in the segment. THe 200 proved that exterior styling cannot make up for a very flawed car otherwise.