Alfa Romeo just got a big investment, but things aren’t going well. Despite the brand’s brand-new billion-euro platform, which underpinned the Giulia and Stelvio, the automaker failed to sell very well (despite the former driving rather well). The automaker just announced the aging platform will stick around in one way or another until at least 2027. Meanwhile, the brand will back away from larger cars.
Alfa Romeo Bins Its Big EV
Alfa Romeo
Speaking to Automotive New Europe, Alfa CEO Santo Ficili says that “large cars are not the brand’s territory.” Plans for the brand’s big electric SUV, slated for the US market among others, have been shelved. The automaker will back away from large cars like this, but will still offer SUVs like the Tonale and Stelvio, both of which are much closer, mechanically speaking, to cars than they are a big SUV.
It puts Alfa Romeo in a tricky spot. While canning the EV may prove to be a solid business move for now, demand for EVs may only be at a brief stall, due in part to the political climate in one of the world’s largest car markets (the US). Alfa may find down the road that falling behind on EV development may be a problem. For now, it may offer SUVs to attempt to capture some degree of market share, but it’s clear the brand shouldn’t be gunning for the likes of BMW and Mercedes, once again leaving it with a problem the brand has faced for decades.
Big Cars Contradict The Alfa Romeo DNA
Alfa Romeo is, in the eyes of many, an enthusiast brand, like Ferrari or Porsche. The automaker has also never achieved those heights. That’s because the enthusiast market alone isn’t enough to sustain a smaller, cheaper brand that often sells cars priced under those from German alternatives. So, where does an enthusiast brand with little capital and an image issue go? There’s no clear answer, but it’s one that Alfa Romeo has struggled with for decades. Fickle enthusiast buyers don’t bring in cash, and mass-market SUVs like the Tonale and Stelvio have failed to capture meaningful market share needed for the brand to grow.
Alfa has an opprotunity, once again, to reinvent itself. It can still sell enthusiast cars, but it has to do so in the background. Updated Stelvio and Tonale models need to follow the Mazda philosophy, offering smart feautres, a dash of luxury, and some reletively affordable pricing on top of good driving dynamics. Mazda has managed to stay afloat as an enthusiast’s brand as a result of its luxury-ish pivot. Perhaps Alfa can do the same.
