[alfa] Alfa's return delayed again

["Christopher Keen" <ckeen74@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, what did you expect anyway? Still a shame....from AutoWeek:

Postponed, Again: Alfa Romeo won't return to the U.S. in 2007

By LUCA CIFERRI | Automotive News Europe

TURIN, Italy - Once again, Alfa Romeo has postponed its return to the United 
States.

The Italian automaker will not re-enter the U.S. market in 2007 as planned, 
Fiat Group CEO Giuseppe Morchio told Automotive News Europe.

An eventual return still is part of parent Fiat Group's strategy, but a date 
has not been set, Morchio said. "We have to fix our operations in Europe 
before we start thinking about North America."

Alfa has postponed its return to the United States repeatedly since Fiat 
announced its strategic alliance with General Motors in 2000. At the time, 
Fiat said Alfa would introduce the redesigned two-seat Spider convertible in 
2003.

That introduction subsequently was postponed to 2004, then to 2005 and 
eventually to 2007.

The first two delays resulted from design changes to the Spider's platform. 
Code-named Project 938, that platform was killed last year.

Then Alfa decided to delay the Spider's return until it could introduce a 
complete range of new vehicles. Code-named Project 939, the new range 
includes four cars based on a platform that Alfa developed jointly with 
Saab. They will be redesigns of the 156 sedan and station wagon and the 
Spider and GTV coupe. All will appear in Europe in 2005 and 2006. Alfa also 
plans to introduce a crossover vehicle in 2006 and another in 2007.

Alfa wants to introduce these cars in Europe before re-entering the U.S. 
market. It has projected sales of 50,000 to 60,000 cars a year in the United 
States.

Alfa Romeo officially entered the U.S. market in 1952. A decade later, the 
company launched Alfa Romeo North America to distribute the cars. To expand 
its presence, Alfa Romeo started a distribution joint venture with the 
former Chrysler Corp.

The joint venture's goal was to sell 25,000 to 30,000 units a year, but poor 
quality and reliability problems hampered sales. Alfa's best year in the 
United States was 1986, when it sold 8,201 cars.

The Fiat Group acquired Alfa Romeo in 1987.

Chrysler withdrew from the joint venture in 1991, but Alfa Romeo continued 
its sales operations on its own for a while. In 1995, it finally notified 
its 97 remaining dealers that it would stop exporting vehicles to the United 
States.

In the United States, Alfa Romeo sold 414 cars in 1995, according to the 
Automotive News Data Center

News of Alfa Romeo's delayed return to the United States comes at a time 
when Alfa is focusing on a turnaround in its core European markets.

Through October, Alfa sold 138,631 units in western Europe. Compared with 
the year-ago period, Alfa Romeo's European sales were down 5.8 percent.

That's a steeper decline than Alfa Romeo's rivals have suffered. In the 
first 10 months of 2003, industry sales in western Europe were down just 1.3 
percent.

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