ALFA ROMEO FOR SALE?
Sergio Marchionne has recently fall over the slippery issue of Alfa Romeo and its future. First he said that he did not know what to do with it and hinting at his plan to simply put the famous brand to rest. Only to say, few days later, that no, Alfa Romeo would not be shut down, after all. According to Automotive News Europe, Marchionne is looking into the Alfa Romeo potential in view of a decision about the future. Reportedly, he is considering two options, both likely to take taking the brand nowhere, though. In the first option scenario Alfa Romeo would be left as it is with the Giulietta being the last ?new model? into which Fiat Group Automobiles has invested some (not much) money. The alternative, second option, would be the development of new Alfa Romeo models to be built from Chrysler platform in the U.S.A.. Clearly, as everybody in the car business knows very well, this would simply grant another, lethal, flop. The American market does not need a Chrysler dress-up in ?Italian Style? with a little more power and baritone sound and Alfisti will not want to hear of an American built Alfa Romeo. They have had enough with the GM devastating influence on the heavy Alfa Romeo 159 and the slow V6 GM engines from Australia. The conclusion here is obvious: either Fiat?s shareholders do their job and finance a realistic business plan for Alfa Romeo or they let the brand die. Is this likely? No, it is not, because there seems to be (and most likely there is) a fourth option on the table nobody want to talk about: selling the remaining Arese properties and the Alfa Romeo brand to a Consortium of German companies that includes Volkswagen. Meetings between the Governor of the Region Lombardia and the cabinet of Germany?s PM Mrs. Angela Merkel have become more frequent and intense recently. The initial subject of these meeting is the revival of the Milano Malpensa Airport Hub in association with Lufthansa. The 2 million square meters (780.000 sq.miles) area onto which Alfa Romeo used to design, engineer and produce some 500 cars per day, is only some 30 km from Malpensa to which is connected to the autostrada running next to the past Headquarters. The area is so large and so conveniently situated that it is the ideal location for a development that according to the secret plans, rumoured by excited politicians in Milano, would include:
? A major shopping and recreational complex;
? With a number of hotels to serve Malpensa passengers, the Expo2015 world exhibition, the nearby Milan Fair which hosts a great number of exhibition throughout the year;
? A new automobile Museum, called by some sources ?Autostadt 2?, with the upgrading of the existing ?test track? built by Alfa Romeo;
? In addition Lufthansa would use this are to create a Cargo Hub serving southern Europe.
? The plans is also considering a Monorail linking non-stop the new ?Arese International City? to Malpensa Airport.
Should this master plan be capable of pulling together the political actors and the German-Italian investors, one of the most actively interested player would reportedly be Volkswagen, already and repeatedly rumoured to be considering the purchase of Alfa Romeo. In the meantime a first step has been outlined by some of the municipalities of Arese and its surrounding cities in the ?Piano Alfa Romeo 2015?.
TO VOLKSWAGEN?
As Paul Betts of the Financial Times reported last months, there have been (and there are) rumours that Alfa Romeo could be sold to Volkswagen. This would be a brilliant move that would positively benefits all the parts involved: bring many jobs to the Arese area and save the face of Fiat, whose management has proved to be far from performing since the company was sold to them instead of Ford. In addition it would bring into the coffins of the Agnelli?s heirs a nice pack of shares of the profitable and successful VW group and Alfa Romeo enthusiasts would soon see more models coming from the their favourites. Like many Austrians, Ing. Ferdinand Piëch has a long lasting love for Italy and Alfa Romeo and there remains in Germany many Alfa Romeo fans. Piëch love to do shopping in Italy, so much so that he tends to buy companies more than singles products. There is more though: within the VW Group and the Piëch family there are already excellent talents with such a love for Alfa Romeo that would ensure its prompt renaissance. The names? Walter De Silva, in the first place, Wolfgang Egger and, last not certainly not least, Luca De Meo. Not to mention the current head of design at Alfa Rome: Christopher Reitz who just happen to be a close relative to Ing. Piëch.
