It’s been about 13 years since Alfa-Romeo pulled out of the US market…a victim of poor marketing,under-capitalized dealers,and just plain stupidity.Yet,I always liked their cars…and the Italian style wasalways something unique. I have heard that Alfais planning a re-entry into the US market; and something else has me wondering. About 4 miles from where I live, there is a former A-R dealer. The owner now leases the showroom to a guy who restores and sells classic cars…but the Alfa-Romeo sign is stillup (and lit at night). I wonder if this guy intends to get his frnachise back, if A-R returns to the USA. legally, would he have any special rights to a franchise?
Anyway, I hope Alfa does return…I always liked their cars!
Alfa is owned by Fiat, which in turn is 20% owned by GM. On that basis, many have got their hopes up that some combination of the brands would return to the North American market. I view it as most unlikely. As detailed in the second link, Fiat has been a basket case for some years now, and launching successfully in the most competitive auto market in the world is extremely difficult and expensive. It’s even more difficult and expensive when (a) the last time you were in the U.S., your brands had a terrible reputation for reliability, (b) you offer no cost advantage over your rivals, © the U.S. market is in a major contraction, and (d) you don’t manufacture products in the most profitable U.S. categories - i.e. trucks/SUVs. Instead, you offer sporty cars, which is a pretty well saturated market here-- the Japanese rule the low-cost end and the Germans rule the high. Fiat wouldn’t be able to launch here without a lot of help from GM, and GM has enough trouble protecting its own brands.