Alfa Romeo Calls US Patent Office, Trademarks 4C

G. Noble

Editor/Reporter - CheersandGears.com

April 21st, 2012

If you are one of the many disappointed American gearheads who missed out on the chance to at least drool on the Alfa Romeo 8C Competitizone when it silently roared onto US soil through Maserati dealers back in 2008, we have some good news for you: more Alfas could be headed our way.

According to Automotive News, Fiat recently trademarked the “Alfa Romeo 4C” name here in the US for use on accessories, parts, and the car itself. The trademark was granted to Fiat on April 10th.

The week prior, on April 4th, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said that the rear-drive, mid-engined sports coupe would go on sale in North America by the final quarter of 2013. Only 2,500 Alfa Romeo 4Cs are scheduled to be built annually, and sales will first kick off in Europe during the second half of next year. For the European market, the 4C will cost around the equivalent of $60,000 USD and it will be positioned as a halo vehicle for the brand.

Although Alfa’s return has overall been a rather disappointing on-again-off-again affair over the last five years, Marchionne is serious about staying the course this time. Fiat is targeting Alfa Romeo to more than double its 150,000 unit sales figure from 2011 to 400,000 in 2014. Alfa selling a full line of vehicles here in America — for the first time in almost 20 years — is key to covering that huge amount of ground.

In addition to returning to the US, Alfa is also planning to introduce six new models, ranging from crossovers to sedans, to give its sales figures a needed kick in the head. The 4C is the beginning of that plan, with the next likely introduction being the Giulia sedan.

Keep your salivary glands, towels and buckets on standby and Gorilla Glue your fingers crossed. We may have been disappointed by Alfa’s return in the past, but it seems it might be seriously for real this time.

Source: Automotive News (sub. req.)