Another month, another update on Alfa Romeo's ever-fluid plans to return to the U.S. market: Automotive News is reporting that Alfa Romeo won't sell a car stateside before the second quarter of 2014, a timeline that was recently echoed to us by Alfa representatives. Automotive News and others are indicating that this represents a delay in Alfa's return, pointing to comments made by Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne earlier this year that seem to promise the 4C will hit U.S. dealers before 2013 draws to a close.
This doesn't really represent a delay, though; last year we reported that the 4C wouldn't go on sale until midway through 2014, or roughly one year after European customers got a shot at one. For reference, here are Marchionne's comments from the 2013 Detroit auto show regarding Alfa Romeo:
"For sure it's coming back this year with the 4C," Marchionne said of the Alfa brand. "We'll be selling the Alfa Romeo 4C. We're finalizing the car now so it should be here by the end of the year."
Note the "should" in that final sentence—despite the certainty of his first statement, it appears as though the CEO tries backpedalling from it later in the quote. Chrysler reps had no comment on whether Marchionne spoke too soon, or whether Alfa is legitimately delayed, as is rumored.
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Our guess is that Sergio, known for his quick-fire, off-the-cuff statements, perhaps was speaking to the resurgence of the Alfa brand on the back of the 4C, while alluding to his intention to bring the sports car here by the end of 2013. Regardless, we wouldn't be surprised if it took Alfa a little longer than planned to storm the U.S. market; it still needs to set up a distribution network for the 4C—last we heard, this will be done through existing Fiat dealers.
from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com
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