Anthony Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) http://www.autoblog.com/2016/02/10/alfa-romeo-giulia-needs-help-fedeli/?ncid=edlinkusauto00000016 Automotive News published a report last week saying two suppliers had insisted the Giulia, on the eve of production, didn't just fail one internal crash test, but failed the front, side and rear impact tests. A third supplier source told us the same thing. Alfa is denying it. All sorts on inside crap to read at a link. What a clusterf**k. Including..... There was to be the 3 Series-sized Giulia sedan, then an SUV of about the same footprint, then medium and large rear-drive sedans and a large SUV, a two-seat hard-core sports car, a convertible and a large four-seat GT coupe. It was even assumed that a version of this platform would underpin the next generation Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.To nobody's surprise, most of that isn't happening, for reasons that will soon become apparent. There will, instead, be just the Giulia and the X3/Q5-sized SUV. This revised plan was buried deep inside FCA's financial report from 2015 and its future forecast, hoping nobody would notice the retreat. That such critical product information was a throwaway line in a financial report tells you something of Marchionne's priorities as a car company CEO. Edited February 10, 2016 by Anthony 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 :ohsnap:"Next Audi!" and "Millions sold in 2018!" my #$!#!#!@#~~~!!!! Circling the drain and dragging down CDJR with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Did anyone really believe Sergio's plans for Alfa were realistic anyway? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlRozzi Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Is Sergio actually sane? I don't understand anything FCA is doing anymore. I'm simply lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fuzzymoomoo Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 (edited) Did anyone really believe Sergio's plans for Alfa were realistic anyway? Sergio did Edited February 10, 2016 by fuzzymoomoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 This is what happens when you give the job to engineers that do not know IIHS crash protection parameters. If this platform was developed in the US instead of Italy, I doubt it will have problem passing crash tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 This is what happens when you give the job to engineers that do not know IIHS crash protection parameters. Not only that--can you imagine the response of those Italian engineers to the suggestions from US engineers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpd80 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Not only that--can you imagine the response of those Italian engineers to the suggestions from US engineers? At best, a middle finger response...... Meanwhile, the debt load that Chrysler Nth America is now shouldering in return for promised sharing of new products is simply laughable, who in their right mind would trust Fiat to get the job done properly. This is the same old smash and grab routine..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony Posted February 11, 2016 Author Share Posted February 11, 2016 At best, a middle finger response...... More likely this: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-150 Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Not only that--can you imagine the response of those Italian engineers to the suggestions from US engineers? Probably similar to the British engineers at Jaguar and Land Rover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akirby Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Probably similar to the British engineers at Jaguar and Land Rover. Except they'd be much more polite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Except they'd be much more polite. They'd tell the Americans to run that by Maggie Smith, and let her cut them down to size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bzcat Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 Probably similar to the British engineers at Jaguar and Land Rover. At least the British engineers would have heard of IIHS since they sold their cars here before Ford got involved with them. The problem with FCA was Sergio's insistence that Alfa be developed in Italy instead of Detroit where all the FCA expertise for RWD and large vehicles are located. These guys were entrusted with developing the next gen large vehicle platform when most of the expected volume were going to come from Chrysler 300, Dodge whatevers, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Great plan! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
probowler Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Now they Can swap "Detroit" for "italy "from their Imported... slogan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7Mary3 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 This should be a surprise to no one. All this talk about Alfa was sadly started to recruit (or placate) dealers for Fiat. There is no plan but to merge with a larger automaker with deep pockets and a willingness to sort this mess out. If that doesn't happen, FCA will be, as we say in the car biz, 'parted out'. Wish I had taken pictures of all those pretty Alfa-Romeos at the L.A. Auto Show, 10 years from now no one will believe they were actually going to try to sell them here. Very sad, Chrysler's last real hope was with Daimler. Schrempp was actually a genius but there were too many idiots at Mercedes to make it happen. He should have gone after (eliminate) the opposition. Didn't have enough boardroom support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grbeck Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Very sad, Chrysler's last real hope was with Daimler. Schrempp was actually a genius but there were too many idiots at Mercedes to make it happen. He should have gone after (eliminate) the opposition. Didn't have enough boardroom support. The so-called "merger of equals" was doomed when Daimler refused to allow Chrysler products to use many Daimler components for fear of "tainting" the Mercedes-Benz brand. Daimler then introduced a series of products that, aside from the 300/Charger, were notable primarily for allowing customers to see and feel exactly where the costs had been cut. Chrysler vehicles produced in the early and mid-1990s weren't exactly paragons of quality, but at least they were very stylish and offered decent performance. Daimler continued the tradition of subpar quality, but without the cutting-edge style. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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