Sergio Marchionne is Not Done Trying to Revitalize Alfa Romeo

Sergio Marchionne is a very busy man. He is still attempting to buy ChryslerChryslerUnited States of America, 1925 > present70 models
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in the United States but the negotiations have basically fallen through, and he may fail if the company gets listed on the stock market. In Europe, he is trying to keep FiatFiatItaly, 1899 > present159 models
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afloat in an auto market where mass-market cars are not performing well. His pet project has also been to revitalize the Alfa RomeoAlfa RomeoItaly, 1910 > present108 models
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brand.

"We continue to work in a pretty determined fashion in trying to reshape the Alfa Romeo platform and I think we will be in a position to outline more at the end of the first quarter of 2014," said Marchionne.

Over the past year, Alfa Romeo has launched the 4CAlfa Romeo 4CItaly, 2013 > present1055 photos
sports car but has had to push back the brand’s launch in the United States twice.

Marchionne said that the company is working on a new vehicle platform for rear- and all-wheel drive cars that would be used by Alfa Romeo, and if the takeover is successful, Chrysler and DodgeDodgeUnited States of America, 1914 > present59 models
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.

Fiat itself is not doing especially well financially. It announced the Q3 earnings were down 9% to €816 million, and it changed its full-year earnings estimate from between €4 billion and €4.5 billion to between €3.5 billion and €3.8 billion.

Alfa Romeo sales are miniscule compared to the companies that it wants to compete against. It sold about 51,000 cars in Europe from January to September, which is as many cars as BMWBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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or MercedesMercedes-BenzGermany, 1924 > present197 models
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sold in single countries.

In Fiat’s four-year plan announced in April 2010, it has slated for Alfa Romeo to sell 500,000 cars a year by 2014. In 2011, it lowered the estimate to 400,000 cars a year. In 2012, it was lowered again to 300,000 cars a year. It looks like for 2013, Alfa may be lucky to sell 100,000 cars worldwide.

Source: Automotive News Europe