Sergio Marchionne, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chief executive, has said the company will reveal a 'complete rethink' of Alfa Romeo brand in May.
Marchionne said: “We are working diligently on the next phase of Alfa Romeo.
“This includes a complete rethink of everything we have done with the brand so far. What I can say is that we have made progress on some of the new architectures and next year you will see a car representative of Alfa moving forward.
"There are still some technical choices to make and I have been meeting with suppliers at the Geneva Motor Show to gauge what their level of involvement could be. I can say that there will be technologies that you will not have seen on any other car - don't underestimate the amount of work going into this."
Marchionne agreed a number of mistakes have been made with the Alfa brand in the past and it was "important to get the next phase right".
He added: "We are going right back to what Alfa Romeo was even before Fiat was involved, rear wheel drive, lightweight, good looking and powerful. We need to make what made the brand unique become relevant again."
He was less bullish about plans for Lancia which appear to be far lower on the agenda. Marchionne said: "We now have 10 brands and sell around 4m cars a year and we can't accede to every request as hard as that may be for Lancia enthusiasts to take. We need to make money and we will reveal more about what we intend to do with the brand in May."
Razzo - 13/03/2014 09:52
Right...... How many 'plans' and 'rethinks' is that now for Alfa from Marchionne in the last few years...?? And at the end of 2015, when there are STILL no new Alfa models in sight, MArchionne will be telling about his new 'plan' and 'rethink' for Alfa Romeo..... NEVER seen a more badly run brand in my life!!!