I put my name in for a Giulia. We’ll see what happens.

 

Excellent. I'm impressed...

 

Shame they didnt give it more from the GTA, to make it truly a "Super sport". At least it gets the exhaust.

 

It will sell out. They have probably done enough... Although, would be nice if it had the Sabalt seats from the GTAm as an option if the Sparco's are not available. The lower seating position alone would have made it feel a bit special.

 

Even if it's 72 each, there really isn't much demand for these cars across the US. If you want one you might have a good chance to get one. I saw a new 100th Stelvio was still available in green last time I checked, and that is more special than these IMO.

 

Could you expand on your comment about 100th being more special...

So for the Quad we have had... (not all markets I'm guessing)
- NRing
-Racing Edition
-100th anniversario
-Super Sport

I still think NRing for me, but the Super Sport is numbered unlike the 100th. I can't remember if the Racing edition was numbered... maybe it was.

Have I missed any other special editions?

 

Bit of a tangent.... I noticed they aren't coating the carbon fiber(interior bits) with that transparent resin. So it has a 'matte' finish now.... what do you all think of that?

PS>I think its cool they're using red carbon fiber tho; about time someone tries something new instead of the same color(black) all the time.

 

The GTA has a matt finish carbon interior. Obviously without the red bits. But I really like it. Of course the 100th Anniversario is a bit different still with a very textured finish. I like that as well.

 

wtf alfa

 

Yea, I have no idea why the NA cars didn't all come in the most "track" configuration available. Everyone I have seen in person here has the regular seats and steel brakes...

 

Ok, so I’m not alone in thinking they should’ve come that way here in NA as well. The spec snob that I am was not overly blown away by the ones that I saw🤷🏻‍♂️

 

Here's the big question...Do we get the Akra exhaust stateside or no? I am less excited if the answer is "no"...

 

Well...

Stellantis North America's press release doesn't mention it.

Stellantis Global's press release DOES mention it. "Last but not least, the Akrapovič exhaust system for its unmistakable sound."

So, my guess is "no."

 

You guys who know and talk to Ron, and assuming that his connections with Alfa Romeo are legit, just please ask him to provide to L. Dominique all the feedback, opinions and points of view that we have in this Forum about him and his capabilities on moving Alfa Romeo in the USA in the right direction. He is selling less than 11,000 cars/yr, his dealers have no clue on what is going on, dealers are closing everyday but, we want to believe that Alfa Romeo is here in the US to stay.

 

He works more with the Marketing and PR teams. I’m one of the grumps who annoy Larry — he hasn’t responded to my last message about Crown Alfa closing. He knows he fucked that up.

 

Why would the dealers even care... What are they supposed to get all giddy about perhaps selling a single car?

 

So the company that failed to inform dealers that they removed a carbon fiber roof from the car, also failed to inform them of a special edition? I'm SHOCKED

 

I put my name in for a Giulia. We’ll see what happens.

Got a call back first thing this morning. I'm on the allocation list No deposit required for current Alfa owners. And the dealer I still get to work with is Crown because they are technically on the books until May 20th, already spoke with them as well--Alfa is getting the configurations loaded into their DFN.

I feel like your ocra gt is more special than this and yes this is coming from a guy who owns and loves his VB

Shame they didnt give it more from the GTA, to make it truly a "Super sport". At least it gets the exhaust.

The GTA has center exit exhausts in addition to being akra; the qv special exhaust is akra but still quad pipe

Could you expand on your comment about 100th being more special...

So for the Quad we have had... (not all markets I'm guessing)
- NRing
-Racing Edition
-100th anniversario
-Super Sport

I still think NRing for me, but the Super Sport is numbered unlike the 100th. I can't remember if the Racing edition was numbered... maybe it was.

Have I missed any other special editions?

Racing edition has to be the most special besides the GTA/m since it got actual part modifications such as the larger spoiler, and front canards; plus it was the first to offer akra exhaust and increased hp through tune.

 

I have bought my fair share of Alfa Romeo's so I think I have an opinion. What I worry about is that no one is looking at the product as a journey for the customer. Someone needs to look at the current Giulia and say how do we make next Giulia better. Each new release can't be a new thing. New Giulia needs to build on current Giulia and be excellent. I know Alfa Romeo isn't Porsche, but 911 means something in the same way Giulia does. New 911's come out on a pretty regular basis and there is always a debate about what they have changed and how have they evolved it. Sure, some get better reception than others, but the story gets moved forward. People get that.

The move to electric can't get ahead of the customer or they won't buy. No secret next 911 is a hybrid, and I think we all except Giulia will as be well. But just make new Giulia better than current Giulia and let the powertrains go where the market is going.

I am optimistic because I need to be. But I'm waiting to be shown what I should buy next... These special editions are all good, and some of us will want low fat, and others will want full fat QV's and that is fine. But my message to Alfa Romeo is 'Just don't screw up Giulia...'

 

Considering the car hasn't changed since 2016 means they never had an upgrade roadmap in mind (besides the long wheel base). Interior and exterior lighting changes are supposed to come every two to four years. There's been zero technical development in 8 years.

 

Considering the car hasn't changed since 2016 means they never had an upgrade roadmap in mind (besides the long wheel base). Interior and exterior lighting changes are supposed to come every two to four years. There's been zero technical development in 8 years.

Everyone likes to go on and on about how much influence the people from Ferrari had on this car. Whether there is actual merit to describing it as a "baby four door Ferrari" is debatable, but it is conspicuous that the car has had "zero technical development in 8 years", and that that aligns fairly closely with the absence of Ferrari influence from FCA (or now Stellantis or whatever).

As much as I love this car, over the years, things like this have made me wonder more and more about whether Alfa themselves were capable of a vision forward with this car without that skunkworks development team in place. It has almost seemed like they've since been terrified of making significant changes themselves without that influence.

I'm not trying to dump on Alfa and I'd love for them to prove me wrong. I think it's often thrown around out there that the MC20 was originally an Alfa before Maserati got to have it. By all accounts that's a fantastic car. So, if that's true, Alfa has fairly recently been capable of some good stuff. But, like @REDGTA said, I'm waiting to be shown what I should buy next.

 

Think the GTA/m came out within those 8 years.. but yes, they could have done much more. few additional tweaks/trims could have dethroned the 3 series//Mx

 

I concur that the product is just about perfect. I don’t find all the glass and screens in Bimmers, Audis and Mercs impressive or user-friendly. Few people give a damn about that stupid backup camera. The Giulia is the perfect size for a sports sedan, drives better than any competitor and looks better too even with the all-black interior they all have now. The company just sucks balls. That’s about all there is to it. Big, hairy balls. Like all the idiots who screwed up at other shitty car companies were hired to run Alfa Romeo. My 10-year old could run that shitshow better than the incompetents in charge. I could make a commercial just based on the logo of that snake devouring that poor dude and sell 10,000 cars a month. Wouldn’t even have to advertise the car. Just that fu*king snake. The dude getting eaten could be the idiot designing BMWs or something.

 

Whoever remembers what GM did to SAAB I am having flashbacks. One of the few cars that I’ve had that I wish I had kept was a black 95 Aero with Klingon wheels.
I have not, and never will forgive GM.

I’m having the same feeling about Stellantis and Alfa.

 

Guys, you’ve all just told us how the Giulia is perfect for yourselves. We know it fits yours and 700 others lifestyle, last quarter. You are owners.

The problem is, 8,000 other people bought a 3-Series instead.

That is our target market. Clearly, improvements need to be made (product and management). We should be able to steal more of those sales.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa/article/attachment/T0440865EN_US/613785

 

CQ4 is missing the point. Stellantis doesn't know how to sell cars. The dealers in the USA are dropping like flies because America barely knows that Alfa exists...there is no advertising at any level to make buyers consider going down to the Alfa dealer, there is no sense of what Alfa is when a buyer accidentally stumbles into a showroom, and the sales staff look like biker refugees from the Ram Truck dealership down the block, and they have zero knowledge of the product. Not a single car sits in the showroom to give a curious member of the public a chance to sample the product. There are four big screen TVs that show nothing but golf and basketball instead of films on Alfa. There is no comfortable place for a waiting customer to sit. The cars on the lot are all dirty. And this is at one of the higher volume dealers in the USA. But their sales figures are a lie...they intentionally overstock (hurting the selection other dealers can offer) and then they the dump the over inventory by buying their own cars and then deep discounting them as Certified Pre Owned models. Stellantis doesn't care...as long as they can churn the product...and wait for the day they dump Alfa. The sales literature that Alfa Romen produced used to be absolutely amazing...works of automotive art. Today there is nothing. Zero.
Alfa's only hope would be if DeTomaso would rise from the grave and raise the money to buy Alfa.

 

His point was about product, which I responded to.

Now, for your points...

Stellantis knows how to sell cars. The USA division sold over 1.5 million cars in 2023. You are just not happy with how Alfa USA is run, which is fine, and for the most part correct. Management and marketing have done a terrible job since 2016 of advertising and controlling the message about the brand. At the same time, FCA did a terrible job of launching a product that was not ready and so journalists had bad things to say from the start. Again, a failure to control the message.

Then add on top of that dealerships that are limited in number, location and sometimes feel like former Mitsubishi locations. I agree.

I will say that our local dealers are better than the one you mention. They all have cars inside, places to sit, Alfa gear/memorabilia/posters and the cars outside are clean. Beyond that, yes, I would make changes to their locations, overall layout, etc.

Yes, converting unsold cars to loaners, then CPOing them to count as sales is a dirty trick, but nothing new for the industry.

We all know there is plenty of blame and opportunities for Alfa USA. They reduced order complexity in order to increase profit margins and reduce factory mistakes/costs. They started churning out special trims to increase profit margins. They have added another car to the lineup (three globally). However, at the moment, no one wants to address anything else.

 

My dealer texted me about this today. He sent me a PDF (I am pasting the pages as images here).

Seems like no Akra for NA market. Also seems like no sparcos...

 

No deposit required, just sayin—MSRP is lower than my 2022

 

No Sparcos and no Akra… i just told my wife that Alfa will be pulled from the US market within 3 years, maybe sooner

i’m having bad flashbacks to the early 2000s

parts bin special and not even the best parts, I dont have Sparcos but I get it, I just wanted heated seats and steering wheel

no Akra is a slap in Our face and why NOT offer them or the 520horses

 

Dealer confirmed no Akra and no Sparcos this morning.

 

I am guessing this is Alfa's special gift for the US market?

Akra could be a compliance thing, but what about sparcos?

 

For the US at least, this is a very lazy model. Even for Europe with akra and 520hp, the only differentiator is the black qv badge and the red cf interior


Does anyone know if the 520 engine has a faster 0-60, or dare I ask ring time? I would assume it would have to be marginally quicker, but not by much. And maybe not if the car got heavier with the additional sound deadening, etc.

 

It may be a bit lazy; but it’s something—and not a parts bin edition. Some thought went into it.

Not complete apples to apples with a 520HP GTA vs a 505HP Quad; but in a straight line, quite a gap.

 

I've read that 100 Buick dealerships are closing their stores because their EVs aren't selling but their being forced to stock new ones on top the units still sitting unsold. Please someone tell the all EV plans for Alfa are not etched in stone

 

Plans and Alfa Romeo are two things that can never be put together in the same sentence. We need to wait for the June 2024 EU elections and the November 2024 US elections. We will know then what direction the clueless of J. P. Imparato will follow the powertrains in his Alfa Romeos of the future.

 

Definitely seems like a cop-out, especially for something called Super Sport. Could just add the black clover badge on my Vulcano Black and you wouldnt know the diff! Definitely seems like some stellantis engineering to me.

 

Didnt the 4C 33 Tributo come with akra exhausts in the US as well?

 

Many 4Cs did. @John4C can probably tell you the exact number.

I still think the Super Sport is a future US collectible model.

For me it’s:

1. NRing
2. Anno
3. Super Sport

All three have unique characteristics not found on any other edition / trim, and very limited / numbered.

 

Many 4Cs did. @John4C can probably tell you the exact number.

I still think the Super Sport is a future US collectible model.

For me it’s:

1. NRing
2. Anno
3. Super Sport

All three have unique characteristics not found on any other edition / trim, and very limited / numbered.

I'd put racing edition as #1 but it wasn't available in the US

It may be a bit lazy; but it’s something—and not a parts bin edition. Some thought went into it.

Not complete apples to apples with a 520HP GTA vs a 505HP Quad; but in a straight line, quite a gap.

Right I remember this. This is 540 vs 510 though and not 520. I'm sure the gap to 520 is marginal

 

I'd put racing edition as #1 but it wasn't available in the US



Right I remember this. This is 540 vs 510 though and not 520. I'm sure the gap to 520 is marginal

The story reads 505HP — and the gaps are car to a car length and a half at times. GTA gets some better launches with dedicated control and I’m assuming LSD vs. the stock Quad.

But to your point, I think any gains are marginal at best. I couldn’t find the video I wanted with a GTA going head to head on a nice bendy track with an experienced driver behind the stock Quad and an influencer / enthusiast behind the GTA. Experience smoked the GTA