1989 Alfa Romeo Spider Graduate Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

The new Alfa Romeo Giulia needs to be a BMW beater

The introduction of the Alfa Romeo Giulia as a BMW challenger is a claim that historically has meant that it will not be as good as a BMW. Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Infiniti, Cadillac, and a few others have tried to loosen BMW's grip on the sports sedan market with little success. It was BMW that was doing the copying when in the early sixties they looked to Alfa Romeo's sport sedans for inspiration. Alfa Romeo's pre-war racing pedigree was second to none, and series production Alfas were sporting twin cam engines, and fuel injection years before BMW. What the post-war Alfa cars did not offer was reliability and an North American dealer network that knew how to service or sell their products. Consequently in 1995 Alfa abandoned the US market. Now it is the Alfa Giulia taking aim at the BMW 3-series. The Fiat/Chrysler group has a lot of resources (think Ferrari), and the engineering chops to beat BMW at its own game, but it will take a long time to build a reliable dealer network, not to mention the quality issues that have dogged them for decades. Alfa will follow what has become a familiar recipe to challenge the 3-series. With 3 sets of trim available, the most affordable model, the Giulia, and further upscale, Giulia ti, both with a turbocharged 4-banger and 276 HP compares favorably with the BMW 328i and the Audi A4. The 505 HP Giulia flagship is shooting for the M4/3. Good luck with that, Alfa. A delayed introduction hints of troubles to come. Unfortunately for Alfa both the Audi A4 and BMW 3-series have millions of dedicated fans, most of whom do not have to be reminded about their automobile's pedigree. Millennial have never had the chance to aspire for an Alfa, and the older generations that still remember them are only a very small share of the market. Alfa has to avoid joining the automotive graveyard of models that have tried to attain BMW's status. Just to be cruel I will mention the Cadillac Cimarron. If you are too young to remember, it was the cheapest Chevy front wheel drive platform with a Cadillac badge. Panned by both GM management and the automotive press, it was a spectacular flop. I hope that the executives of the Fiat/Chrysler group remember it well. We do not need a Fiat in a stylish suit.

Slow Chinese market delays Maserati and Alfa Romeo models

We already told you that Alfa Romeo was delaying the Giulia sedan and an unnamed CUV, but now things are getting worse. According to Bloomberg, Maserati has delayed the Alfieri sports car. And it's all China's fault. The faltering Chinese domestic market, which is experiencing its slowest period of growth in nearly three decades, is forcing Fiat Chrysler to rethink its plans for its Italian models, Bloomberg reports. Rather than going for models that would likely be popular in China, including the Alfa CUV and a larger sedan, the company will shift its focus and bring out updated MiTo and Giulietta hatchbacks, both of which would play better in Europe, an unnamed source within FCA told Bloomberg. This news is notable because it shows that FCA boss Sergio Marchionne's ambitious product transformation is not progressing as smoothly as planned. In the MiTo's case, the company is willing to go back on its original strategy. The subcompact hatch wasn't supposed to survive beyond 2016, but Bloomberg is reporting an update is due by the middle of next year. As for Maserati, well, there's not much to say. The Alfieri was supposed to go on sale next year, and now it's not. There's no word on how (or even if) Maserati's priorities will shift to another vehicle, or if this is simply a matter of money being distributed away from one of FCA's brands and toward another. Related Video: News Source: BloombergImage Credit: Andy Wong / AP Alfa Romeo Maserati Sergio Marchionne FCA alfa romeo giulia alfa romeo mito alfa romeo giulietta maserati alfieri

Alfa Romeo Stelvio CUV to debut at 2016 LA Auto Show

America loves crossovers. Alfa Romeo wants to succeed in America. So it only makes sense that the troubled Italian automaker will introduce its first ever CUV on American soil. That's per a report from Australia's Motoring, which claims we'll clap eyes on the Stelvio for the first time this November in Los Angeles. The news was announced by Alfa Romeo and Maserati boss Harald Wester, who said it'd be a late fall debut, according to Motoring. That almost certainly means the mid-November to-do in LA. "We will have an additional product in the [CUV] segment with the new Alfa, to be presented in late Autumn this year, and for the time being there are no plans for Maserati to further extend our range downwards in the more compact SUV segment," Wester told Motoring. The Stelvio – the name was confirmed by FCA boss Sergio Marchionne last month and comes from the iconic Italian pass and the snaking road attached to it – will be based on the Giulia's rear-wheel-drive platform, and will be offered in both two- and four-wheel drive versions. Like the Giulia, there will be both four- and six-cylinder options, which according to the Aussies will include a high-performance Quadrifoglio Verde model. Related Video: