The company’s three factories produced a total of 150,722 vehicles last year.
Alfa Romeo hopes to roll out new products such as the Giulia sedan or the Stelvio suv in 2017. This is despite a remarkable production increase over the previous year. The following numbers are not directly from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. FCA does not publish this type of data. However, the Fim-Cisl union announced that Alfa produced 150,722 cars in 2017. This is 62% more than 2016’s sales of 93,117 vehicles.
Although the volume increase from the three Italian factories was significant, it fell short of Sergio Marchionne’s expectations. The head honcho at FCA had expected to move 170,000 cars in 2017. The US sales were lower than expected despite the fact that deliveries increased from 516 cars in 2016 to 12,031 in 2017, according to the Automotive Data Center.
The Chinese market is a major concern for Alfa Romeo. This is where the new legislation restricting automakers’ ability to sell through dealers is having an immediate impact. After selling 3,331 cars in July 2017, July was the company’s best month in 2017. However, the Chinese market, where the latest legislation restricts automakers from selling through dealers, saw Alfa ship just 410 units in November, and 497 in December according to estimates made by JATO, LMC.
Marchionne’s 2014 plan for Alfa Romeo’s revitalizion called to sell 400,000 units in 2018. However, it seems unlikely that it will ever happen. A new large SUV that will sit above the Stelvio is one model that could help move the needle, but it won’t be out until 2020. The 4C will get a refresh in the latter part of the year. There won’t be a manual gearbox, much to the dismay of purists.
Alfa Romeo hopes its partnership as title sponsor with the Sauber F1 Team will have a greater impact than the previous one.