Fiat CEO Tells VW Boss to Back-Off on Requests for Alfa Romeo, Fix His Own Problems
After repeatedly voicing his interest in purchasing the Alfa Romeo brand from its Fiat parent company, Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech today received a decisive answer. It’s just not the answer he was looking for.
“As long as I am CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, Mr. Piech will never have Alfa Romeo. It’s hands-off,” said Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, speaking at a J.D. Power conference.
And rather than leave it at that, Marchionne rebuked his rival, insisting that he would be better off to fix his own internal problems first. In particular, Marchionne referred to Seat (Volkswagen’s Spanish subsidiary), which has struggled to find buyers for its brand of rebadged Volkswagens in recent years.
After having neglected the Alfa Romeo brand, Fiat is looking to reinvest and will introduce a new sports car concept at the Geneva Auto Show this year, along with other new models, including a crossover based on the Jeep Compass.
[Source: Automotive News]
With AutoGuide from its launch, Colum previously acted as Editor-in-Chief of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine where he became a certifiable car snob driving supercars like the Koenigsegg CCX and racing down the autobahn in anything over 500 hp. He has won numerous automotive journalism awards including the Best Video Journalism Award in 2014 and 2015 from the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC). Colum founded Geared Content Studios, VerticalScope's in-house branded content division and works to find ways to integrate brands organically into content.
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ghu - I'm Italian and you are an imbecil!
Fiat has treated Alfa Romeo like garbage ever since they took it over from the Italian government in the late 1980's. But Marchionne can't be blamed for what Fiat has done to Alfa because he wasn't in charge of Fiat S.p.A. until 2004. At that point The Brera was already in development so when it came out in 2005, it didn't have anything to do with Marchoinne's plans for Alfa. So far, Alfa Romeo has made no REAL ALFAS under Marchoinne's leadership. The 8C doesn't count because it's just a Maserati with an Alfa badge. I hope Marchionne understands Alfa Romeo enough to let them build a sports car that deserves the Alfa name.