Plans for Alfa Romeo's Return to North America come into Focus

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed)
Oct 6th 2009 at 9:03PM

With parent company Fiat Group's partnership with Chrysler, plans have been in motion for Alfa Romeo to finally, after years of speculation and strategizing, return to the North American market. But while the bulk of Alfa's line-up currently consists of relatively small vehicles, those that will be offered on this side of the Atlantic will be decidedly larger.

To start off, the company's smallest vehicles won't, according to the latest reports, make it to North America altogether. That includes the MiTo three-door hatchback and the Milano five-door which is slated to replace the ageing 147. The North American range is expected to start out instead with the replacements for the 159 and 166 sedans.

The current 159, as beautiful as it is, is slated to be replaced by the upcoming Giulia around 2012 as a global product that will include the North American market. Meanwhile reports indicate that Alfa Romeo could build a successor to the discontinued 166 flagship sedan on this side of the Atlantic in Ontario, Canada.

Gallery: Alfa Romeo

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Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

carlonino Oct 7th 2009 4:07PM

I understand Fiat wanting to come back to the U.S. with larger models and that's fine but the smaller ones will be missed by the people who enjoy driving and would prefer a nimble road car by Alfa Romeo.

The MiTo is more adult in styling than a Cooper and the new Milano is a very sensibly sized car. I believe these two Alfas could create a new bench mark of upper end compacts in the U.S. I think Alfa will be giving up sales to those who can not afford what a new 169 is going to cost. Having eye catching little MiTo's and Milano's running around will only help promote their brand name. Lot's of americans do not know what an Alfa Romeo is.