Being a part of the Stellantis conglomerate means the Italian brand can be flexible with future plans
Last month, I wrote about the critical situation of Alfa Romeo’s sales figures, prompting the sort of pile on the internet is famous for.
But within the loud debate came a voice of reason, saying that by thinking in traditional industry terms, I had missed the point.
Yes, Alfa’s 2021 sales were dire, he agreed, and yes, it’s in need of a top-to-bottom rethink – but it’s far from being doomed, as I had suggested might be the case.
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To recap, Alfa registered just 1574 cars in the UK, 23,332 across Europe and 18,252 in the US. At its peak in volume terms, it shifted 205,431 in Europe alone.
At one of its many reboots of recent years, bosses talked of ambitions for 500,000 by 2014, growing to more than one million in subsequent years. It never got close.
Volume isn’t everything, however.
As charismatic new boss Jean-Philippe Imparato is constantly at pains to point out, the size of Stellantis means he’s under no pressure to force sales, especially loss-making ones. In time, by sharing hardware with other brands in the group, there will be even less pressure, as the firm can flex production according to where demand lies.
The only cars produced will be profitable ones. But, crucially, the model of what defines a profitable car should change too, and this is where Alfa’s secret sauce – the fact everyone with a petrol pulse wants to say they’ve had an Alfa without necessarily wanting the hassle of actually having one (and, yes, my crusading internet friends can argue that one again if they wish) – really comes into its own.
Subscription has long been a buzzword in the industry, without anyone being clear if it can actually work. BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and more have trialled them with limited success.
Volvo says its programme is going well and is set to grow dramatically, and Hyundai is getting in on the act. The idea is that a customer can subscribe to a car, with all the ownership costs covered by one payment, but walk away at any time, switching model or brand depending on the contract.
Imagine if you could do that with an Alfa: priced right, we would all have a go, wouldn’t we?
Naysayers may look at today’s admittedly beautiful but ultimately mainstream copycat Alfa trio and shrug, but so too a subscription model could cut free the brand’s product planning.
Reinterpretations of classics could suddenly have viable business cases – especially in an era of electrification democratising performance and reliability to a greater degree than ever before.
A beautiful Alfa sports car that you can walk away from if any of the old (and not so old) clichés bite? There’s an offer many couldn’t refuse.
Keyword: Inside the industry: Could a subscription model work for Alfa Romeo