Alfa Romeo Production - 2013-15

The Giulia is just around the corner

AR production has been discussed in depth before, the previous article covering 1994-2013. That can be seen by clicking here. I didn't have detail for 2013 then but I do now. One person left a comment back then of how sad that AR had gone down so far. I replied "It will be interesting to see what Fiat does with Alfa, if it will be turned around". We will take the next three years of manufacturing an see how things have progressed.

FCA (Fiat Chrysler) have been keen to get AR into a strong position as they know only too well that the more premium area of car manufacturing is much more profitable than mainstream models. In 2014 FCA said it would spend billions of euros to have an eight vehicles line up by 2018. They have since slowed down the roll out of new models and 2020 is the expected date for the range to be ready.

It doesn't matter if the schedule goes back, unless you're a dealer hanging out for more cars to sell. Ramping up a marque's production volume has to be matched with a commensurate dealer network. It's also important to get build quality and reliability to a reasonable standard, otherwise people will remember AR cars of old and turn away.

Model	2015	%	Lyr		2014	%	Lyr		2013	%	Lyr
Giulietta	44,630	71.9%	-6%		47,523	71.5%	-14%		55,541	73.6%	-17%
MiTo	13,909	22.4%	-18%		16,894	25.4%	-14%		19,655	26.1%	-21%
4C Coupè	3,507	5.7%	71%		2,049	3.1%	783%		232	0.3%
Total	62,046		-7%		66,466		-12%		75,428		-18%

Summary: 2015 production was poor but the new Guilia wasn't ready. It will improve the number of units produced in 2016 and especially 2017. That in turn will start paying back the investment FCA has made in the car and that won't be a moment too soon.