Alfa to return to US in ´09

[Nortad]

...and FIAT will follow

"Alfa Romeo Returns to the U.S. Next Year; Fiat Could Follow

LONDON — Fiat's chief executive confirmed in an interview that Alfa Romeo will begin selling cars in the U.S. next year and building them in North America by 2012.

Fiat chief executive Sergio Marchionne told London's Financial Times in an interview that Alfa Romeo would begin selling cars in the U.S. next year. Though he didn't say so specifically, among the first cars is likely to be the newly introduced 8C Spider. Initially, Fiat will export Alfa Romeo cars from Italy to the U.S. and absorb the losses caused by the weak U.S. dollar versus the Euro.

However, Marchionne told the newspaper that Fiat was shopping for a partner to produce vehicles in North America by 2011 or 2012 to avoid the currency issue. Marchionne hinted that Fiat was talking with Detroit automakers, which have plenty of excess capacity, about a production agreement. At the Geneva auto show, Luca De Meo, who heads Alfa Romeo, told Reuters news service in an interview that Mexico is being considered as a North American production base.

Marchionne also hinted to the Financial Times that Fiat could sell other cars besides Alfa Romeos in the U.S. He said the Fiat 500, named European Car of the Year in 2007, could be among them. "We need to replicate the Mini phenomenon in the U.S., he told the paper.

Alfa Romeo last sold cars in the U.S. in 1996 when it sold a scant 400 for the year. (Edmunds.com)"

[Memphis]

They are making some attractive cars nowadays

[Soup]

All three of those are cool looking.

[EVILZ33]

kinda excited wonder where they are gonna put a dealer around here

[Pieters]

Didn't know there were no Alfas in the US

[Nortad]

Chrysler to do what?

Chrysler in talks with Fiat to build Alfa Romeos in the U.S.?

Posted Apr 16th 2008 11:29AM by Damon Lavrinc
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Chrysler, FIAT


Chrysler now has a partnership with China-based automaker Chery to rebadge a small car for the South American market, a partnership with Volkswagen to build VW-badged minivans, and a brand new deal with Nissan in which it will supply the Japanese automaker a full-size truck in exchange for a new small car. Rumor has it that the Cerberus-owned automaker isn't done shaking hands quite yet.

The latest partnership may involve Italian automaker Fiat, as reported by the German newspaper Handelsblatt. According to the paper, the deal with Fiat would involve freeing up some of Chrysler's production capacity in the U.S. for Fiat to build Alfa Romeos here. We're not sure what Chrysler would get out of the deal besides money, but Fiat would accomplish a step that makes reintroducing Alfa Romeo cars in the U.S. that much easier. Chrysler-built Alfa Romeos, though? We've seen Chrysler-built Maseratis in the past (Maserati TC ring a bell?), which didn't work out too well. Hopefully this time, things will be different.

[Source: Reuters]

I always thought of chrysler has the most "euro" of the american manufacturers, but they are not that much so they could build alfas (even unreliable ones...)

Atleast hope the production line is handled by some italians

[American Psycho]

neat looking cars

[Drizzle]

Eghh, I never liked the looks for their cars and I still don't. They better have some great cars, marketing, etc. or it's lights out for them out here again.