
Santo Ficili, the new CEO ofAlfa Romeo and Maseratirecently embarked on a roadtrip across the United States to meet dealers of both brands. The trip, which took place last week, is a strategic one for the two Italian carmakers, who make the majority of their sales there.
The United States: a key market
The United States is a key market for both brands. For Alfa Romeo, the American market is second only to Italy, but the situation is not ideal. Between 2023 and 2024, sales fell by 18 %a worrying decline for the brand. For Maserati, the American market remains the main one, but the decline was even more significant with a fall of 37 % over the same period. Incomprehensible at a time when Lamborghini and Ferrari are achieving record figures.
Against this difficult backdrop, Santo Ficili, who took over the reins of Alfa Romeo and Maserati some three months agoHe knows that measures must be taken quickly to turn things around. "During my trip to the United States last week, I met with the Alfa Romeo and Maserati teams for strategic reviews and coordination meetings", he explained. So this roadtrip was also an opportunity to get closer to the dealers and understand the challenges on the ground.
Concessions, a sensitive point for American customers
Feedback from Italian car owners in the United States testifies to the need to improve the distribution and service network. Andrew P., owner of a Ghibli Trofeo in San Diego, explains that the region, though extremely wealthy and populated with many exotic vehicles such as Ferraris, Lamborghinis, McLarens, Alfas and others, is sorely lacking in sales and service outlets. "My nearest dealer is 125 miles away. This is simply unacceptable! You can't just sell cars, you have to offer services with reasonable proximity," he declared.
Another owner, Adrian H., also highlights the weaknesses of the dealer network. "The American dealer network is too weak. Take, for example, the San Francisco Bay Area, the richest region in the world, and yet there are only two dealerships, and in very remote locations. A wider range of models could help build customer loyalty and attract new dealers."
New ambitions for the U.S. market
During his meetings with dealers, Ficili shared his ambitions for turning things around: "Newcomers to the teams bring considerable experience, and their ideas will be invaluable in achieving the goals of growth and positioning in this important market for both brands. A big thank you to the key dealers I met - it was a pleasure to have such interesting discussions about building the future together, in total alignment, to deliver exceptional experiences for our customers." Indeed, we reported a few months ago that Maserati called back former employees to win back the United States.
Price. Price. Price.
As in....OVER.
YOU need to realign the demand on price and bring them back to reality.
Maserati and Alfa Romeo both need 7 year warranties. The only way for Americans to get past prior reputations for poor reliability is to offer class leading warranties. Also put a couple of cross trained Alfa and Maserati mechanics in every Dodge dealership so everyone has support near them. If they don't do these 2 things they're done in America
The way I see it coming from a four time Maserati owner and one Alfa, currently owner of Granturismo.
The new Granturismo Trofeo needs to be at least 575hp. It's way too close to a gracale Trofeo to justify that big price difference. The interiors are very close as well. Not that they are bad , because I think they are the best in the price range for a car like this. But there needs to be a bigger difference between the two inorder to command that premium price for the Granturismo Trofeo.
The MC 20 is great I think, I'm currently trying to convince my wife that we need one. She has trouble closing the door because she is tiny. So she tells me she likes the new Corvette C8 ZR1 and it's going to be cheaper than the MC. Plus she can close the door easily. She would prefer the Maserati name as much as me but the door thing. I'll figure it out. But to update the MC 20 they should offer an upgrade option for the steering wheel from the GT2 stardale, like Ferrari does. That's a nice steering wheel, maybe offer it with the carbon fiber interior packaging or a drivers pack.
ML hat es auf den Punkt gebracht. Nicht jeder ist Willens 70.000€ für einen Alfa Romeo Stelvio auszugeben. Zumal ich lediglich einen Peugeot bekomme mit italienischen Touch. Wo ist der Blick auf den Massenmarkt? Und dann noch die ständigen Rückrufaktion bei Bremspedal und Aufhängung, und diverser Motorschäden bei den neuen Motoren. Das schafft keine Akzeptanz!