Loyal U.S. Alfisti have a reason to rejoice as word comes that parent company Fiat is in talks with Chrysler to use some of their spare manufacturing capacity to make Alfa Romeos.
The near record strength of the euro against the dollar was starting to bring the return our beloved Alfa Romeo to these shores in serious doubt.
This does, however, bring further problems into question. The main Alfa Romeo plant in Sant’ Agnata, Italy, just underwent an 80 million euro upgrade to bring quality in line with that of its European competition. After spending that much cash on upgrades, it is no doubt the Alfas from those plants won’t suffer the usual Italian car foibles.
The agreement would mainly be a boon for Chrysler in this country as it is suffers from having way too much manufacturing capacity for far too little demand. This would allow the company to keep its factories open thereby avoiding a battle with the United Auto Workers. We think the UAW is just about at the breaking point when it comes to staff layoffs and would be prone to wide spread strikes if more are called for.
The only concern with bringing manufacturing to Chrysler is would its plants be able to build the cars to a quality level of, say, a Ford Fusion? If it could pull this off, it could make the manufacturer’s plants very popular with foreign automakers looking for a plant in the United States. Are you listening Volkswagen?
Some have questioned if there is any demand in the United States for a brand like Alfa Romeo. Well, if the recent launches of Smart and MINI are any indication, Americans are hungry for anything that is ‘different.’ And Alfa, if nothing else, surely fits the bill.
Newly resurgent Alfa has never suffered from a lack of gorgeous designs, and its latest lineup doesn’t disappoint. From the gorgeous Alfa 159 sedan to the storied Alfa Spider, one has to wonder why other car makers can’t make their regular models look so good. The soon-to-be released MINI-beating Alfa Mito would also make a great addition to the U.S. fleet.
Add into this the fact that Alfa Romeo also possesses one of the best ranges of diesel engines on the market in Europe. Many manufacturers like GM’s Opel division even license out their diesels for use in their own vehicles. If diesels do catch on in the United States like it is hoped, this could further bolster their lineup.
Our take? So Alfa, take this message from loyal fans of the brand here in the United States! Commit already!