With 3 Series Dispensed, Alfa Romeo Places The Cross Hairs On The 5 Series And E-Class

I think this is a misstep for Alfa. It will not be a volume producer for them like the Giulia and the Stelvio. Further the interior quality needs to be above the Giulia or it will not sell.

Sergio needs to figure out what is his plan.

Maserati is aimed at Mercedes/BMW with the Ghibli and Qporte and they are now languishing as Sergio aims Alfa Romeo at Mercedes and BMW. If anything the Giulia should have been a Maserati.

Alfa Romeo should have been an Italian Acura/Subaru i.e. near-premium brand with lots of AWD and fire-breathing turbos.

Assuming this larger Alfa materializes, what is its purpose? What then of the Ghibli?

The update of the Qporte was invisible, so why not kill Maserati?

If the Levante fails, Maserati will likely be in huge trouble. The Quattroporte never caught on and Audi's upcoming A8 will cause even more problems for it. The Ghibli's early sales success is over even before the new E-Class arrives.

The Levantate (sic) I predict will fare no better than the Ghibli. The word is out that Maseratis are "rebodied Chrysler 300s" and no one wants to buy a brand-new, ancient car at Maserati prices.

I like the Ghibli a lot, but the Chrysler 300 that it essentially is comes through loud and clear then you ask yourself why it isn't priced like a 300.

But then again, it isn't.

The Ghibli starts out at $70K, but brand new 2015s are on the lot and not selling despite a $20K price reduction. That's an absolute steal given that the Ghibli is reliable because it is just a pretty 300.

There are not many takers at any price.

$107K as a base price for the Qporte is a good $35K too high and it too has a lot of Chrysler 300 under the skin and it shows.

I'm dying to try the Frankenstein platform of the Giulia.

As for the new A8...it will continue to lag terribly behind the S Class because it will not be any more compelling than it is now which is to say that it is an Audi Avalon BORE.

The real competition for Alfa is the very awesome Jaguar XE/XF sedans. Both Jaguars have already dispensed with BMW (collectively, reviewers pretty much agree that the J sedans are better driving machines). And for car buyers looking for something different (not Lexus, BMW, Audi, MB, etc.), they can choose from either Jaguar or Caddy (also much much improved). I don't believe that Alfa (any FCA sedan for that matter) can ever raise their reliability enough to generate volume interest.

The Ghibli isn't half bad as reliability goes.

Nice design, if it's reliable it may have a chance.

It should be given how much Chrysler is under the Giorgio platform. Giorgio would be a great name for it. Let's hope that another girly name doesn't pop up.

I don't know how public perception towards Alfa is outside of North America, but here, most people haven't heard of Alfa. And those who have, remember it as a quirky Italian that only its most hardened fans adored.

BMW is safe from Alfa Romeo, in spite of anyone's claims.

I so agree.

Even if the Giulia were game changing--and it cannot be with its "derived from Chrysler 300" platform--it would have an uphill battle to say the least.

I'm looking forward to driving it.

I'm speculating on the Giulia with deposits down and looking to buy and flip while the hysteria is alive.

I did the same with the 2015 Mustang 5.0. Bought and flipped for a 25% profit.

I've been offered $$ for the GT350 and have said no.

Fiat is a comedy show.

you nailed it

The Maserati's are not bad cars and are probably reliable. The problem is that their interiors use a lot of parts from the Chrysler parts bin. Switches, handles etc. This is not going to fly when you are competing Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar and now Volvo. Frankly Maserati needs to be raiding the Ferrari parts bin if they are going to properly compete. The fact is all people experience a car while sitting in it. At 70 grand plus people expect a certain degree of interior quality. Whatever platform it is derived from really does not matter. People care if it is reasonably refined and if it has an expensive fittings in its interior. This is where Maserati falls down. As long as the top selling Alfa 5 series competitor is at or below the bottom selling Ghibli on price then there should not be a product issue. But Maserati's need to be on a different level than Alfa in ride, refinement, and interior quality. Other wise they will simple cannibalize each other.