Marchionne's Ace in the Hole?

When Fiat-Chrysler head Sergio Marchionne warns Italy he needs greater clarity to plan automotive production there, while announcing all future Alfa Romeos will be rear-wheel drive (rwd), he's basically saying that to beat the Germans Italians need to bring their best game.

Alfasud

But the barely-surviving Alfa Romeo has a long and storied history with front-wheel drive (fwd) cars, has been sharing platforms for years with other car makers, and has even built successful vehicles outside Italy.

Alfa lovers, meanwhile, aren't always that particular, especially as they suffer a drought of new models from their favorite car company. If Marchionne thinks outside the box (he's created for himself), something he and his company have always been known for, he might reach for an ace-in-the-hole to revive the much-storied Alfa brand.

Beating the Germans is not the Alfista's main priority

The rwd decision seems the right one, particularly for sports car purists. Experts say it offers the best sports handling characteristics. German luxury carmakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW have historically had a rwd bias. But both these makers have recently developed fwd models, and fwd models from Audi have always competed well with their fellow Germans.

Alfa fans, barely surviving the desert of new models, don't care if Alfas compete directly with the Germans. In the battle of the driveway, it's Italian looks that matter most. On the road, German performance characteristics are not the benchmark for Italian car fanatics. They want something different. As Jason Cammisa of Road & Track says about the upcoming 4C:

"On track, it lacks the all-neutral, all-the-time perfect balance of modern Porsches, but on the road, it’s infinitely more involving and far more fun."

After so long without fresh Alfas to fall in love with, beating the Germans is not the highest priority for an Alfista. Alfa styling, Alfa tradition, that distinctive Alfa flair that makes people turn heads--the special engaging feel of an Italian car--these are what proper Alfisti care about.

Let Maserati go head-to-head with the Germans.

Not all Alfisti require rear-wheel drive

As long as the highest-performance Alfas are powered by their rear wheels, Alfa lovers aren't going to care about the rest. The 8C, 4C, and Spider are all rwd. The future 6C "flagship sedan" is planned on a rwd platform. This should satisfy the Alfisti.

Alfa has a history with front-wheel drive

Alfa itself has a history with the configuration. Their first front-driver, the Alfasud (1971-89), has become a legend. Manufactured originally by a new company owned by Alfa and Finmeccanica in the southern region of Italy as a part of a government labor policy, cars were later made in South Africa, Malaysia, and Malta.

Brera

Recent much-loved Alfa Romeos have been fwd:

• 156 "compact executive car" (1997-2007)
• 159 the 156 replacement (2005-11), and
• Brera sports coupe and Spider (2005-11). 

These models were all built on shared platforms. The General Motors and Fiat Group Premium platform, meant for fwd and four-wheel drive automobiles, underpinned the 159 and its variants.

Currently popular Alfas--MiTo and Giulietta--are fwd. With the exception of the 8C Competizione supercar, produced in extremely limited quantities from 2007-10, Alfisti have been surviving on front-drive Alfa Romeos for some time.

Ready-made Alfa lineup . .

With the difficulty getting cars out of Italy, the preferred production location for Alfa purists, Marchionne might consider co-producing already-successful models from a country known for making ultra-reliable automobiles. These cars match exactly what Alfa needs in terms of segments: compact and mid-sized sedan and SUV.* They are segment champs according to the car magazines. 

We're talking, of course, about Mazda, with whom Alfa's already working on their shared next-generation roadsters, the 2015 Miata/MX-5 for Mazda, Spider for Alfa. Note the:

1. new Mazda3, Mazda6, and related CX-5 have an almost Alfa-like, much-remarked-upon beauty
2. Mazda SKYACTIV technology perfectly matches the publicly-stated Alfa approach to its new cars--super-light, highly-efficient, and sporty

As Louis-Carl Vignon, head of Alfa Romeo Europe, puts it:

"Mazda's Skyactiv attitude to building vehicles fits with Alfa Romeo's values and what the company stands for. The 4C is a line in the sand -- everything after this has to be lightweight, efficient and high-performance. Technology and knowledge from the 4C will filter down on to the next generation of Alfa road cars."

The red paint developed for these new Mazdas looks Alfa-like. Maybe Mazda was hoping to tempt Alfa into a co-production deal across the entire line-up. One could see the Quadrifoglio Verde proudly affixed to these stunning new cars. 

Solving the reliability issue

Reliability and dependability of past models is often groused about. That's all part of the love affair people have with Alfas, one might argue. Reliability and dependability from an Italian car? Ha! But the issue keeps coming up; it's been a major black eye for both Fiat and Alfa Romeo. The Japanese to the rescue again. 

While Marchionne maneuvers with his half-homeland Italy, he must know that with a year of development** he could re-badge these excellent Mazdas, sprinkling a little Alfa magic on them to make "affordable exotics", and quickly reverse the drought felt by Alfa fans everywhere.***

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*the CX-5 is actually classified as a Compact Crossover SUV
**as was applied to the woesome 200 to make it more palatable to Chrysler consumers.
***U.S. Fiat dealers desperate for product to sell might love him all the more for it, too.