Alfa Poised for Its U.S. Comeback
BRESCIA, Italy
To many the name evokes its invincible Italian racing heritage of the 1920s and ‘30s. Others recall Dustin Hoffman driving one of its Spiders in “The Graduate.” Some simply remember it as the maker of the rust-prone 164 model. But whatever the memory, Alfa Romeo stirs emotions among autophiles.
Alfa has been absent from the U.S. market since 1994, but the tie-up between General Motors Corp. and Alfa owner Fiat Auto will mean a return of the Alfa brand to the United States by late 2002 or early 2003, says Paolo Fresco, Fiat chairman. “We need to have a car that is better responding to the requirements of the [U.S.] market. It will be an Alfa Romeo,” Fresco said. “So automatically it is a car that has a sort of sporty characteristic.”
But it also needs to be of a higher quality than the Fiats and Alfas of yore, such as the Alfa 164, the last car Fiat sold in America. The unreliability of the Italian brand begat the chestnut of what the letters “FIAT” really stood for: “Fix it again, Tony.”
Fiats dramatically improved in the ‘90s, with three models winning European Car of the Year: the Fiat Punto in 1995, the Fiat Bravo in 1996 and the Alfa 156 in 1998.
“They were really aiming for German quality in the 156’s build, because that was the major problem with Alfas: They had major rust problems for many years,” said Gilly Filsner, an analyst with the London-based automotive consultancy Ludvigsen Associates.
“Their image was terrible. Even if people liked the brand, [Fiat] didn’t have products that anyone would take a chance on.”
The 156, produced in sedan and station-wagon models, is the likely candidate to appear in U.S. showrooms, said Fresco, who is optimistic about competing in the U.S.
“I believe that we’re going to have a great success,” he said. “When I go to the States we have a couple of Alfa 166s, which we take around. Every time I stop somewhere there’s a group of people around.”
Fiat’s alliance with GM would facilitate entry to the U.S. market of any of its brands: Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Lancia. (Ferrari and Maserati, also owned by the parent conglomerate, are not part of Fiat Auto and therefore are not part of the GM deal.)
“To participate in the U.S. market we need three things: distribution, service and a product,” Fresco said. “And now, we have resolved the distribution and service with the alliance with GM.”
Fresco says Alfa may return to the United States with more than one model. But, sadly for Alfa enthusiasts and those undergoing midlife crises, it’s unlikely to be either of its roadsters, the Alfa GTV or the current Spider, neither of which would pass U.S. crash-test requirements.
“There’s enormous brand equity in the name,” said John Casesa, an auto analyst with Merrill Lynch in New York. “Despite its history in the U.S., it’s a very well-recognized brand, and what it stands for is very clear: Italian sports car. In that respect I think it’s a more powerful brand than Saab. It’s much more distinctive positioning.”
