Over the past couple of years I've heard rumors that Alfa Romeo is planning to start selling cars in the United States again. Something about Fiat forging an alliance with GM to get this rolling. Anybody have any details on this? I doubt there are too many fans around after their last venture into the States, but I've always had a soft spot for them. 10 years ago one of my uncles drove a 164 for a couple of years and I wouldn't mind taking the present incarnation out for a spin. So how 'bout it? Anyone have any info on this?

Yeah, it'd be nice to have Alfa back in the US. My brother has a 1986 Spyder in very nice stock condition and was highly enthusiastic about a driving/racing event at Watkins Glen last summer, during which the "featured" marque was Alfa Romeo. He took his car and had a blast.

A problem doing anything with Fiat in the US is the dismal reputation the company has for quality and reliability. I'm sure Fiat has come a long way since the 1970s, but the cars earned such a bad reputation back then that the company will have to work very hard to start anew here. If I was Alfa Romeo and interested in marketing in the US, I'd keep my distance from the Fiat name. That shouldn't be too hard, since Fiat has no dealers in the US. The thing to do might be for Alfa to strike a distribution deal with Ford, DaimlerChrysler or even Mini.

Unfortunately, I have no information about the possibility of Alfa Romeo returning to the US. I'd certainly like to see it, however.

--Bob

Every few years they seem to make plans in this direction, but they tend to get derailed. The GM-Fiat alliance is, of course, dead.

The most recent story I could find was this:

February 21, 2005
Sergio Marchionne, the Italian-Canadian finance expert who took over Fiat Auto last week, plans to bring Alfa Romeo back to the United States as soon as 2007, say suppliers and others.

Since Fiat joined with General Motors in 2000, Alfa has had three false starts toward the United States. But there are two advantages this time:

• Marchionne has moved Maserati's ownership from Ferrari to Fiat Group so Maserati and Alfa can share platforms and the costs of federalizing cars for U.S. standards.

• In the breakup of the GM/Fiat Group alliance, GM agreed to provide Northstar V-8 engines to Alfa and help federalize the cars.

Alfa executives plan to recruit established U.S. dealers. They believe Maserati's U.S. network is too small and too upscale.

Maserati will base its next-generation Spyder and its Kubang crossover on Alfa's Premium platform.

"The Premium platform has to be federalized, and Alfa could now share these costs," a source says. Marchionne hopes to send Alfa to America with four models on the platform: