Alfa Romeo Delayed Giulia To Make Sure It Was 'Perfect' :Comments

[William Maley]

We could count on both hands the number of stories we have written about the Alfa Romeo Giulia being delayed for one reason or another. But according to FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, the reason for all of those various delays is to make sure it would be a true rival to models such as the BMW 3-Series.

 

"The project was technically immature. We will start only when we are on par with the Germans, otherwise it is not worth the effort," Marchionne told Automotive News.

 

We're not sure how much of this comment we can take as seriously considering the Giulia was supposed to originally come out in 2013. Let us look at the list of delays,

• Issues with Manufacturing and Styling of the vehicle
• Engines suited for the vehicle not being ready
• Changing from a front-wheel drive to a rear-drive platform
• Problems with getting NVH to an acceptable level
• Failing to pass internal crash tests (though Alfa Romeo vehemently denies this)
  

Alfa Romeo says that orders for the Giulia will open in April. The U.S. will see Giulia arrive this fall with the high-performance Quadrifoglio, followed by a turbocharged 2.0L four-cylinder towards the end of the year. We'll believe it when we see it.

 

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

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[David]

Another Vaporware excuse while he continues to steal millions from the American name plate and pockets the cash in various ways and wastes it on pie in the sky dreams of bringing back dead name plates.

[Suaviloquent]

It's actually a hallmark of failed companies according to many of my textbooks - using cash cow divisions to fund the growth of other unprofitable divisions and mergers and acquisitions.

 

Let's just hope that this company isn't that kind of statistic in the future.

 

However, it's pretty clear that BMW has set the bar really low, if Cadillac can beat them, so can Alfa.

 

Though they really will have a tough time selling over the others - their pricing strategy is even more unpalatable than the Germans, and it's because they want to be a low volume, niche player.

 

All these niche brands will finally be undone when FCA US gets to use that same platform.

 

Though I am hesitant at that idea, because it would mean that the 300 and Charger would be really downsized back to a midsize RWD car size. But it might be the only way to get 5+ mpg combined gains in FE.

[smk4565]

My guess is this will be a failed car sales wise.  However, it did run the Nurburgring in 7:39, that is a staggering time for a 4 door sedan.  

[regfootball]

a sort of pointless car from the USA perspective.  And who can guess how reliable it will be.

[Suaviloquent]

Well, they just have to beat BMW in performance, and also be given pity points for lack of back seat space because it's Italian, but of course when it's ripped to shreds by a Cadillac then the same excuse won't hold.

 

And the images of the Interior, while nice, looks nothing exciting over a Mercedes C300.

 

And then the XE has also beaten the 3 Series in comparison.

 

The Quadrifoglio looks pretty knarly. But again, is anyone buying an M or AMG going to go to them? Not really. Even V now has a pedigree and a following. Ditto for RS Quattro...

 

It has to make its own white space - aka mainstream performance luxury with Italian flavour. And it seems like a pretty long-term commitment, given they wanted 500,000 sales by 2020...or never, because it might just fail, spectacularly at that.