Alfa Romeo: A Legend Returns, But Do We Care?
March 28, 2008

By Richard Feast

Alfa Romeo’s decision to sell cars in the United States once more is wonderful news for the marque’s handful of aging enthusiasts in the country. If Europe’s experience is any guide, though, the overwhelming majority of American car buyers won’t even notice its return.

It is probably best to stop reading now if you are one of those unreformed Alfisti. It is time for a touch of automotive heresy.

The grand old marque is well past its prime. Founded in 1910, Alfa Romeo was owned for most of its existence by various Italian state bodies. It used to make luscious grand tourers for the wealthy, and race-winners for the likes of Ascari, Campari, Ferrari, Nuvolari and Farina.

The company was never a commercial success, though. Ford dickered with buying it in 1986, but was out-maneuvered at the last minute by Fiat.

Alfa Romeos are Fiat-based these days, but still look wonderful. And the name is such a legend — at least in Europe — that each new model has professional road-testers dribbling with excitement, even today.

In fact, the cars are merely quite nice. Alfa Romeo is increasingly irrelevant in  the 21st century. Here in Europe, where we have been able to buy its products for years, we simply don’t.

A few numbers illustrate the scale of the problem faced by Alfa Romeo. The company made about 158,000 cars last year, similar to the previous year and far below the 207,000 it made at the start of the century.

To put that into perspective, Volkswagen’s Audi division made three cars for every one by Alfa Romeo in 2000. Last year, the ratio was six to one in Audi’s favor. The picture is similar at the other German premium brands Alfa Romeo tries to emulate.

Alfa Romeo has been stuck in neutral for years. The only motion seems to come from reverse gear. Consumers admire the cars but don’t buy many of them.

Worse, more than 90 percent of Alfa Romeos made last year were sold in Europe. In other words, car-hungry buyers across the rest of the world are simply unaware of this allegedly legendary nameplate. And that includes big, high-growth developing nations such as the so-called BRIC — Brazil, Russia, India and China.   

Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne knows Alfa Romeo’s numbers are unsustainable. His aim is to double the brand’s annual volumes to 300,000 by 2010. It is a tough call, and we have heard similar sentiments from Marchionne’s predecessors.

The strategy involves a broader model lineup; the recently announced Mi.To subcompact will attempt to grab some of BMW’s Mini success.

Belatedly, the plan also involves selling a lot more cars outside Europe, which is why the U.S. is in the company’s sights once more.

All well and good, but the mystery is why Marchionne is prepared to invest zillions of dollars establishing a niche for Alfa Romeo in a demanding, sophisticated, mature market like the United States when, for mere millions, he could satisfy the car-lust in less-demanding, high-growth markets such as the BRICs.

The priorities are wrong. Only after Alfa Romeo has picked the easy fruit in emerging markets should it turn its attention to the United States. Sure, it is the world’s biggest national car market, but its importance is fading as sales soar in other areas.

Certainly Dustin Hoffman’s lovely Duetto Spider in "The Graduate" still lights fires for many Americans. But that was in 1967.

For rather more Americans under the age of 50 these days, Alfa Romeo is as relevant as Henry Fonda’s old Hudson truck in "The Grapes of Wrath." And that movie was made in 1940.•

Photos by Alfa Romeo
1 - 8C Spider
2 - Brera
3 - Mi.To

Richard Feast is a London-based writer who has covered the auto industry in Europe and the U.S. He is author of "Kidnap of the Flying Lady," an investigation into the sale of Rolls-Royce, and "The DNA of Bentley," a history of the Bentley marque.

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