Alfa Romeo comes to U.S. on verge of model flood

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- You'd think there was no hope for Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand.

Won races but lost money.

Tried to cut costs by combining with other models, including Nissans, but flopped in showrooms.

Kept plugging away and came off pretty well on styling, but otherwise so ho-hum that "our German competitors had built a phenomenal lead," said Harald Wester, Alfa's chief technology officer.

To reverse that decline, he said, Alfa Romeo has created a "skunk works" run by two senior engineers from Fiat-owned Ferrari, and 200 engineers from the Fiat Chrysler company and some from outside -- growing to 600 engineers next year.

Alfa Romeo's goals for those engineers: Beat the Germans, make money.

How: Develop "best in class rear-wheel and all-wheel drive architecture for global products" and develop a wide array of models from compact cars to SUVs.

Wester said production on the first of those is to begin second half next year. By the end of 2018, he said, eight new Alfas will be on the market, built in Italy.

Wester said all will have:

• Advanced, innovative engines.
• Perfect 50-50 weight balance for exceptional handling.
• "Unique technical solutions."
• Exceptional power to weight ratios, for strong acceleration.
• Ground-breaking Italian design.

First for the U.S. is the 4C mid-engine sports car, coming this year.

Here's the timetable shown by Wester at the Fiat Chrysler five-year product presentation at Chrysler Group headquarters here Tuesday. It is deliberately vague about exact timing and mute on which models would come to the U.S.

• Late 2015: Mid-size car.
• 2016 - 2018: Two compacts, another mid-size, full-size car, two SUVs and a "specialty" model, likely a sports car.

That flood of models, Alfa says, should propel its yearly global sales from 74,000 now to 400,000 in 2018.