That’s why I journeyed to Turin, Italy, recently to drive a new Alfa Romeo MiTo, which I write about in this Sunday’s Automobiles section. The Beetle-sized MiTo will lead the Italian beachhead on American shores and should be in Chrysler showrooms in about 15 months.
This is a rather recent turn of events for Alfa, which has aspired to return to the United States almost since it left in 1995. But it lacked a dealer network and the means to start one up. Fiat’s recent acquisition of a large stake in Chrysler changed all that. Alfa is a part of the Fiat Group, which means that Alfa — not to mention Fiat — suddenly took over an existing distribution channel for its cars.
So, cars like the MiTo and four varieties of the Fiat 500 minicar have been fast-tracked to the United States. Other models could soon follow, despite denials by the Fiat Group. In the past month, spy photographers have snapped the upcoming Milano hatchback being prepped to American standards.
In a viability plan presented to the federal government last February, Chrysler revealed that the Milano was in the works and that it could be built in the United States. The Milano could make its official debut at the 2010 Geneva auto show.
Other new models reportedly in the offing are a flagship sedan, referred to as the 169, a cabriolet and a small S.U.V. Several current Alfas, like the 159 and the Brera (which are not coming to America), have been lauded for their styling; yet sales of the Alfa brand worldwide have been in a steady decline from a high of 213,638 in 2001, to just 103,097 last year.
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