Who from the roadside one Alfa Romeo wants to discover, needs patience and long breath. For years, the former cult brand was starving, hardly any new models, few dealers, problems with the quality. Until the parent company Fiat rediscovered its icon and now after a felt eternity gas again. With the sports saloon Giulia and the neat SUV Stelvio Alfa Romeo has now become purchasable again. "That's the exciting thing about our profession," says Germany's Alfa CEO Stefan Moldaner. "To anchor a traditional brand with new models again in the consciousness of the spoiled customers, finally to be competitive again and go with new ideas on the offensive".
The trained graduate engineer has an ace up his sleeve when resuscitating Alfa, for whom colleagues from other manufacturers envy him. For the 48jähriger is responsible for another famous brand in the headquarters of Fiat Germany. Ever since the American Chrysler Group became part of the Italian mega-corporation, the Jeep logo models have never been so popular in the 76 history of the American off-road specialist. Jeep is also booming in Germany, and almost 15.000 vehicles were sold last year. "Jeep and Alfa Romeo are our premium brands that complement each other perfectly," says Moldans. With the help of the US brand, he now wants to fix an Alfa weakness and almost double the number of dealers for the Italian models by the end of the year on 180. Jeeps are already in the shop window in many of the new car dealerships.
Are not there any clashes between the two brands? Finally, Alfa will soon bring two more SUVs that compete directly with Jeep models. The planned compact SUV, much smaller than the Stelvio, could also interest customers of the Jeep Compass, whose Germany start was now preferred to the summer also to Germany. The future big Alfa SUV, in contrast, also competes against the luxury off-road Jeep Grand Cherokee. Stefan Moldaner sees things differently: "The characters of the two brands are completely different. Alfa serves rather the customers of sporty Allradler, which turn rarely in the area ". In contrast, Jeep customers would also appreciate the capabilities of their car off the beaten track.
However, there are no other new releases by the year 2020. There is a large sedan in the format of the Mercedes E-class as well on the Milan diet as a sports car or a successor to the golf competitor Giulietta. Pretty soon, the noble version of the Stelvio will have to have: The all-wheel drive surnamed Quadrifoglio Verde (four-leaf clover) will splurge like his sister model Giulia QV with 375 kW / 510 horsepower under the hood. Jeep, on the other hand, continues to target the adventurers. In addition to the Compass, there will be, among other things, a completely new Wrangler. Also new is the Jeep Grand Wagoneer, an SUV of the five-meter class.
But even new products, no matter how attractive, are not enough, according to Moldovan conviction, to take the Alfa brand to new heights. "We have a wealth of ideas," says the manager at the launch of the new Stelvio in Innsbruck. He cites as an example a four-year warranty or the attempt to lure fleet customers into an Alfa model. And then there are the families that Moldans has in mind. Planned is a so-called mix-leasing, in which, in addition to the spacious Stelvio, a small Alfa Mito can be ordered at particularly favorable conditions, which may be enjoyed by another family member. (Peter Maahn / SP-X)