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Marchionne: 400,000 annual Alfa sales realistic
Fiat-Chrysler boss bullish about Alfa Romeo's lofty global sales targets, bolstered by German-rivalling products and substantial volume potential in the USFiat-Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne says quality and dynamics to match – or even better – the German prestige brands will be one of the cornerstones of Alfa Romeo's bullish plans to grow annual sales from 74,000 units last year to 400,000 cars by 2018.
The storied Italian marque is investing in excess of 5 billion euros in developing eight all-new models that will spearhead the assault, and Marchionne insisted in a freewheeling Q&A at the Paris motor show that the almost six-fold growth objective wasn't a pie-in-the-sky target.
In addition to a revamped model range, the other key to the massive sales expansion is to capture a healthy slice of the North American prestige market, leveraging off Chrysler's distribution network.
Alfa Romeo formerly had a presence in the US market, but pulled out in the mid-1990s as sales slumped due to an uncompetitive model range with a reputation for abysmal quality and reliability.
The brand recently re-entered North America with the 4C (priced from $US55,195), and the next salvo – believed to be an all-new sedan to rival the BMW 3 Series/Merc C-Class/Jaguar XE/Audi A4 – is set to be revealed on June 24, 2015.
Despite Alfa's two-decade absence from the US, Marchionne insists lack of awareness of the brand and its colourful heritage – particularly among younger buyers – won't be an issue.
"I grew up in North America and I guarantee [buyers there] will remember Alfa, and it's not an age issue," he said. "I think there's a better depth of understanding of Alfa in the US than you can surmise, certainly based on the length of time it's been absent.
"I won't take issue with fact that Alfa has a 'tarnished reputation', and it also [currently] has a limited number of products in the market. I've openly admitted that Alfa was a remake story and that Alfa had to be rebuilt and that we had to go back to some fundamental, key elements of the DNA of that brand.
Marchionne points to Jeep as a "parallel example" of what could be achieved with Alfa.
"When we got involved with Chrysler in 2009 we were selling roughly 200,000 Jeeps. And I remind everybody in this room that Jeep was [formerly] owned by a very competent auto maker across the border here who tried for years to grow it.
"So the, the DNA of Jeep did not transform itself post-bankruptcy and, and certainly not since I got involved in the business, but since we took it over, it went from about 200,000 vehicles to 732,000 in 2013. It's going to break 1,000,000 this year. So miracles of the ones that I made reference to are possible.
"The question is, is it likely [with Alfa]? The [successful] positioning of Alfa, in my view is contingent on two things, the ability to distribute it effectively, but more importantly it hinges on product and whether it can effectively pitch itself against German benchmark performance.
"In the absence of Chrysler, I think that the 400,000 figure that I gave you would have been an absolute nonsensical number. I could never [have suggested it] if we didn't have access to distribution in NAFTA, which the association with Chrysler has given us.
"And so our network is going to be developed from the best of breed from the US side, and it will give us the necessary capacity to make sure that if we have the product then we can effectively distribute and achieve penetration as desired.
"The more fundamental question, which I think is the one that we have been working at very diligently over the last two-and-a-half years is the product itself – product and powertrain.
"And for that I can only threaten you with a reveal of a decent product on June 24, 2015. I cannot tell you anything else other than the fact that I know what we've done.
"So I just ask you to bear with me while I continue to toil away to make that this damn thing run. I was at the circuit on Sunday, and I test drove the mules, some of which had similar technology [that will be used in production models].
"I think we're making great progress towards getting to the right end. I was a driver of German makes before I went to Fiat, so I think I understand. I used to drive a BMW M5 when I was young and foolish, and I always recognised that they had phenomenal know-how and I used to love the car.
"And I've driven other [German contenders], and I can tell you honestly that, based on what I've seen, we're on a par, if not better. Just give us time.
"You'll have a chance to drive the hell out of it and find out whether it really will withstand a head-to-head competition with the German competition. Just wait, we're less than a year away."
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Written byGautam Sharma
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
If the price does not contain the notation that it is "Drive Away", the price may not include additional costs, such as stamp duty and other government charges.
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