Italy: Marchionne says Fiat 500 and Alfa Junior may be sold in US
Friday, November 09, 2007, AutomotiveWorld.com
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive officer of Fiat Group, has told Italy's La Stampa newspaper that the company is considering selling both the Fiat 500 and a future Alfa Romeo model, the 'Junior' in the US market.
The report, carried by the Italiaspeed.com portal, does not state how the models would be distributed, though parallels are drawn with the innovative plans to retail smart brand cars there.
"We are observing the smart phenomenon in the US. We will see how it goes. Technically, we are ready", Marchionne stated.
Daimler, in collaboration with Penske Automotive Group, is currently preparing the US launch of the smart fortwo. The partners are claimed to have taken in excess of 30,000 US$99 deposits, following a six-month nation-wide roadshow of test-drives and brand-building events. The fortwo goes on sale at 70 city-based outlets from January.
Fiat's Tychy plant in Poland, which builds the 500, has recently lifted its production target for 2008 to 190,000 cars, due to strong demand. Meanwhile, an Abarth-badged variant of the car has been delayed until next year.
Emphasising the importance of the forthcoming Alfa Romeo 'Junior' to the brand's return to the US market (the production name is currently the subject of a public competition in Italy), Marchionne told the newspaper, "We have created it [Junior] for this objective [US market sales]. It is one of the models we are assessing to export".
The Junior, which will replace the three-door Alfa 147, will have its world premiere at the Geneva motor show in March 2008.
The Alfa Romeo brand is expected to be relaunched in the US in 2008 via Maserati dealers, initially. The first model will be the 8C Competizione supercar.
Published on Friday, November 09, 2007
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