Fiat prepares for a unique brand Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Abarth
Sergio Marchionne acknowledged that Alfa Romeo is "sick child" of the Fiat group. A solution to save it is creating a common brand with Maserati and Abarth, other top brands of Italian.
Today has a number of surprising statements for fans of Fiat Group. First, Sergio Marchionne, Fiat and Chrysler president delegate said the current Alfa Romeo is "a sick child. It is a fact clear to everyone that the brand has never managed to achieve the desired results, even some targets we have set. Alfa Romeo became the child we need to heal him. I assume my responsibility for the cure, but depends on the child if it really wants. At this point, the segment where Alfa is now very diverse and at the same time competed for many builders. "Concluded Marchionne.
Statement number one man hierarchies Fiat and Chrysler culminated in the appointment of a new managing director for Alfa Romeo. It's Harald J. Wester, the man currently leading the destinies Abarth and Maserati brands. It seems that Wester will not leave the function, planning to deal with the revitalization of Alfa Romeo in parallel with the other two names exclusive.
Wester's reappointment which confirm rumors that Fiat plans to build in future years a common brand, consisting of current Maserati, Abarth and Alfa Romeo. The new president will have the task of seeking common points between Maserati and Alfa Romeo as well as strategies to attract customers.
If Abarth doing well, the recovery was in the Salon of Geneva in 2007, and Maserati models survive with 135,000 euros, Alfa Romeo instead lose hundreds of millions of dollars annually. To save the fate of the name with a history dating from 1910, Fiat will consider two options, what's painful for the fans as the premium brand.
The first one involves freezing the investments after the launch of Giulietta in Geneva. That means the Italians will get to sell the range of only two new models, Mito and Giulietta, other products, Brera coupe, Alfa Spider, Alfa 159 GT and today, planning to not receive replacement and out of production gradually in the years to come . But this solution could lead to a slow death of the brand, caused by outdated products.
The other alternative is borrowing platform on which to develop a new generation Chrysler 300C. With such support, Fiat could lead more easily to substitute for 159 and 166, section D and E models which would then be produced in the United States.
Future Alfa Romeo would be decided in mid April, when Fiat will publish the group's strategy in 2010-2014.
