Some things could only have been created by Italians. So runs a 2008 ad for the Alfa Romeo 147. Certainly, the 147 - like most Alfas - is among the most stylish cars in its class. Yet the prevailing image of Alfa Romeo's product continues to be that of an unacceptable compromise; a bachelor's car, fun but poorly built. Alfa pointedly closes its plant in early January 2008, for nearly three months, to improve things.


Even if today's Alfas really were as compromised and fragile as the brand's reputation would have you believe (and they're not), their fans would probably not care. Wrote one Autocar reader, "the Alfa Brera is too slow; too expensive, and has risible packaging.

"Then I saw one being unloaded from its transporter, and started finding ways to justify the 3.2 as my next car. Genuinely gorgeous."

Alfa Romeo sold 144,000 cars, worldwide, in 2007, followed by just 103,000 in 2008 and 110,000 in 2009 (versus 203,000 in 2000). Between 1999 and 2009, the brand lost between 200 million and 400 million euros per year.


Alfa is seen as the most vulnerable brand in the Fiat/ Chrysler group.

In addition to continual losses, the brand's six models are derived from three different platforms, spread across sales of just 100,000 units.

The outgoing 147 and GT Coupe are both based on the unique front-wheel drive platform that underpinned the old 156; but the 159, Brera, and Spider are based on the "Premium Platform" developed in conjunction with Saab. Fiat's divorce from GM in 2005 meant that Alfa was left to build the Premium architecture alone, in small volumes.

The Mi.To is based on the Fiat Grande Punto, while the 2011 Giulietta is the first model based on the C-Evo platform, which will be used extensively by Fiat, Chrysler, and Jeep.


Alfa is planning a blitz of concept cars in 2010, to demonstrate its potential. Among them are an all-new Spider (Pininfarina); a new 159 sedan (Giugiaro), and a new Brera coupe (Bertone).

Logic would suggest that, if the Spider and new Brera are built, they would probably (like the Giulietta) use Fiat's new C-Evo platform. The 159 replacement would be based on a long-wheelbase version of C-Evo.

However, Alfa's sudden partnership with Maserati and Abarth throws these plans into question. Alfa boss Harald Wester is known to be investigating whether Fiat and Chrysler can co-develop a new rear-wheel-drive platform, to support a new Alfa Romeo 159 and 166; the Chrysler 300C; Lancia Thesis; Dodge Charger, and Dodge Challenger.

Certainly, a switch to rear-wheel drive would give Alfa more credibility against its German rivals. However, to truly compete with BMW, Alfa would need stable management; clear vision; stellar brand strategy; consistent investment, and cars which dynamically tick all the right enthusiast boxes.

In late 2009, on the eve of the brand's 100^th birthday, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne puts the future of Alfa Romeo under review. Speaking to Automotive News Europe, Marchionne stresses the need to adopt, and stick to, a long-term strategy. Alfa has had many new dawns; says Marchionne, "we need to stop doing it.

"You cannot be a newborn Christian every four years. It's the same religion, eventually you need to own a religion and carry it to conclusion."

The limited-production, 8C Competizione supercar's design will be used as a template across Alfa's next-generation range, including the Mi.To; Milano, and Giulia (a 159 replacement).


After a 15-year absence, Alfa Romeo returns to the U.S. market for 2008 with the 8C Competizione. Maserati is to act as the U.S. distributor for the Italian brand.

While the 8C Competizione costs $200,000, and is produced in limited numbers, other, more accessible Alfa Romeo models hope to make a Stateside return. Should this transpire, they will be pitched at the BMW buyer. Alfa hopes that the 159 sports sedan, in front- and all-wheel-drive versions, will join the Brera coupé and Brera-based Spider in a three-pronged assault, at your local Trident dealer.

In July 2008, the BMW Group signs a memorandum of understanding with the Fiat Group, by which future generations of MINI models may share platforms and components with Alfas. Signed by BMW AG's Friedrich Eichner and Fiat's Alfredo Altavilla, the memorandum points to BMW potentially helping Alfa re-launch in the United States.

Following the Fiat Group's usurping of Chrysler in the Summer of 2009, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne promises that Alfa will return Stateside by 2012. The most likely Alfas to make the trans-Atlantic journey are the successors to the 159 and 166. Indeed, one or both could even be built in the U.S., alongside the 2^nd-generation Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.


To quote an Alfa Romeo ad, "Alfa Romeo is the one carmaker still building cars that are first a source of exhilaration, and only then a means of transportation." In 1977, Alfa Romeo is one of just five brands - including Rolls-Royce; Jaguar; Ferrari, and Maserati - selling an all-aluminum engine in the U.S. The company stays true to the De Dion axle decades after rivals have adopted more conventional (and cheaper) solutions.

Into the '80s, Alfa Romeo remains wedded to the boxer engine. A classic '84 Sprint ad muses, "instead of placing four cylinders in line, as in most ordinary engines, Rodolfo Hruska decided to oppose two pairs horizontally.

"The end result was a naturally balanced engine providing a smoother gas flow and delivering far more power per liter of engine capacity than many more expensive sports cars.

"Of course, it cost a little more to produce, but because of the distinct advantages of improved power output and better torque characteristics, Alfa Romeo refused to compromise."