The Italian firm only sold 25,964 cars in 2021 in the United Kingdom
Alfa Romeo plans to double its sales by focusing less on being an emotional brand and instead on appealing to a more general audience, the company’s UK boss has said.
Damian Dally explained to Autocar journalists that the brand’s current British buyers were predominantly middle-aged men seduced by the performance image of Alfa Romeo cars, and this limited appeal limited its sales performance.
“This is the challenge for Alfa as we are seen as a sports brand,” said Dally, who thinks cars like the Tonale, the company’s first hybrid and its forthcoming little brother Brenero, which will give Alfa its first electric car, will help broaden its appeal to attract more women and families.
Affected by the drop of the Giulietta, Alfa sold just 25,964 vehicles globally in 2021, and just 18,250 in the US “I think we need to spread the Alfa story to a wider audience while remaining pure in what we do ”Dally said.
Does that mean Alfa is turning its back on its sporty image and planning boring cars? Not necessarily, says the UK chief, who said the company still had faith in the traditional four-door sports sedan format that helped popularize Alfas in the second half of the 20th century, with the Giulia still alive and kicking. .
“The market may be moving away from sedans, but we still believe in them,” he said.
Specifically, Dally makes no reference to Alfa’s reputation for unreliability and lousy dealer service, something that must surely be holding it back in the UK as well as the US, even though English cars come with a solid warranty. five years, one year plus the coverage offered in the United States.
Although Alfa scored well overall in the 2020 Driver Satisfaction survey, when subjective rating is removed and looking only at the number of cars that experienced errors, almost 29 out of 100 Alfas had problems (only MG and Land Rover they fared worse), compared to just 8 percent of the Mini.
Meanwhile, America’s 2022 JD Power Initial Quality Survey rated Alfa Romeo well below average, 26 places behind Buick, and one place behind Jaguar, though interestingly, Audi, Volkswagen and Volvo were even further behind. down the list.
But the JD Power Customer Service Index study placed Alfa last among premium brands, a damning indictment of the state of the Italian brand’s dealer network in the United States.
None of which is new for Alfa CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, who has promoted a series of measures to improve vehicle quality, while the US dealer network has been overhauled, removing some of the dead wood. and polishing what remains.
