Alexandre
A few weeks after unveiled its new Milano SUV, immediately renamed Juniorthe CEO ofAlfa RomeoJean-Philippe Imparato, answered several questions from the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero and in particular sales targets.
Jean-Philippe Imparato spoke passionately about Alfa Romeo's ambitions Tavares is not just a competent manager, he's a real car enthusiast, and if we show him that we're solid and serious and don't make mistakes, we'll get the answers we want from him". There's a lot about Alfa Romeo's future in this CEO's reflection. "I have ambitious dreams, but to make them a reality, I need to prove to the company that we can travel alone. I need the commercial success of the Junior and a good reception for the new Stelvio in the USA, Japan and China. Then we'll take stock and make plans beyond 2027.
With development in mind, the Junior, produced in Poland, becomes a strategic pillar of the brand's relaunch We're going to have to make sales and bring in profits. Also bring enthusiasm. There are no precise sales targets [...] the potential is there, we can make it happen. from 50 to 70,000. Our strategy is purely order-driven, and the Tychy plant is highly flexible and capable of adapting to even greater demand.
Imparato pragmatically observes that in countries like Italy, where all-electric vehicles are still struggling to make their mark, it will be the hybrid version that dominates the market: "even if the new compact opens the future as the first electric Alfa Romeo, with the exception of a few battery-powered examples of the 33 Stradale supercar, it's certain that we'll sell more electric cars in the north of Europe and more hybrids in the south".
These objectives confirm our estimates made almost six months ago. As a reminder, Jean-Philippe Imparato said to beat the 1990 sales recordThe Milano would account for 40 % of total sales. He was also already aware that hybrid powertrains would account for the vast majority of sales.
Alfa Romeo is banking heavily on the Junior's success to consolidate its position in the global market. To achieve its goal, the Junior will have to take market share from the Volkswagen T-Roc, Ford Puma and Peugeot 2008. Alfa Romeo's future rests on this new model, but also on the Stelvio to be unveiled next year. Alfistes, get out your chequebook 😉
The Junior's design may not be so bad, but I'm waiting to see it in real life.
Between the PureTech and the electric versions, there's not much to get excited about.
"I need to prove to the company that we can travel alone. I need Junior's commercial success".
But we know people like you, Mr. IMPARATO. If the Junior is a success, the first thing you'll say to yourself is: "Well, we can sell an Alfa that isn't produced in Italy, so we might as well outsource all future models!
Of course, you're not going to do it all at once (the pill has to pass), but little by little...
Tavares' passion for cars makes me laugh. Passionate about bonuses, yes.
It's a pity Alfa Romeo's image is fading by the day.
A fine soldier, Monsieur Imparato! The boss and sinister cost killer of European-style GM must be pleased 😁
As for this Milano...er sorry Junior 🙄, it's time to see it for real, even if we recognize the 2008! (Editor's note: once again we can see the limits of the exercise, like the Lancia 208 Ypsilon).
On the other hand, the deplorable image of Stellantis with the Puretech scandal could curb some people's enthusiasm. For the moment, this Stellantis Junior is only available in electric version! So let's just say that the Alfa Romeo Soldier has not yet fallen on the field of honor!🫡
But personally, I'd rather go with a manufacturer that develops its own chassis and powertrains.and an Asian one at that for reliability 😉.
And yet I love this brand, and Peugeot in its heyday...
As for the puretech, I think Peugeot has reacted, so problem solved for me! Which manufacturer still produces its cars alone: Rols Royce are BMWs, Audi are VWs, Renault Nissan are the same, Ford regularly frequents other brands! Tapping on Peugeot is tiresome in the end! As for VW, it's a lottery when it comes to reliability! Don't worry, the Asians have their share of problems!
Except that Pijo isn't BMW or even VW, far from it. As for the "new" PureToc, there are already problems with chain shifting, apparently. It's still Pijo...
As for the puretech, I think Peugeot has reacted, so problem solved for me! Which manufacturer still produces its cars alone: Rols Royce are BMWs, Audi are VWs, Renault Nissan are the same, Ford regularly frequents other brands! Tapping on Peugeot is tiresome in the end! As for VW, it's a lottery when it comes to reliability! Don't worry, the Asians have their share of problems!
All brands must join forces to survive, they have no choice
I'd rather buy European than Asian
A manufacturer must certainly share elements when it is part of an automotive group.
But the problem is when FCA's Italian manufacturers lose everything that made them special, and almost everything that's Italian, to make a second Peugeot, apart from the styling. Since when has Peugeot excelled in engines? Since when have Peugeots been anything other than standard, flavorless movers, machines for getting from A to B, but nothing more?
Peugeot has never known how to make a top-of-the-range car, and when it tried it was a complete failure. And yet we have a brand with a premium positioning, Alfa Romeo, and a sporty luxury brand, Maserati, in the group that makes us Peugeot bis for all its brands. How can this work? What's left for Alfa Romeo, apart from a more pleasing design?
The FCA - PSA automotive merger in Stellantis had not indicated that this meant that all the cars in the group would be Peugeots or Peugeot derivatives. Uniform cars, almost the same everywhere, with just slightly different bodywork and logos to give the illusion.
In fact, without Stellantis, Alfa Romeo would have disappeared. It's all very well to be nostalgic, but I'm not trying to convince anyone, it's pointless, many people find it hard to face up to reality, and Opel too, which had been in debt for over twenty years, had its doubters who were against the takeover.
It's not Stellantis that's pushing its in-house notorizations (combustion engines are doomed in the long term, and the group would certainly have done things differently by integrating Alfa engines without these energy constraints). So let them adapt, let them work, and see what happens in 5 years' time.