06.12.2003 ALFA ROMEO SHELVES PLANS TO RETURN TO THE NORTH AMERICAN MARKET

Alfa Romeo CEO Daniele Bandiera announced at the Bologna Motor Show that the marque's planned return to the US market has been shelved indefinitely in favour of continued expansion in the European and Asian markets.

Alfa had planned to return to the US in 2007, a decade after withdrawing from North American, when a full model line up would be in place. And although Bandiera is satisfied that the products will be available, the lack of a dealer network and overcoming legislative hurdles has seen the idea dropped, although it has not been ruled out in the future.

It had been expected that Alfa Romeo's would be marketed through the GM dealer network, similar to an agreement struck recently by Fiat, which will see their cars sold through Pontiac dealers, but no arrangement has been forthcoming.

This will leave Alfa Romeo free to concentrate on expansion in Italian and Europe as well as building on strong growth in the Asian markets. Alfa have recently been bucking a shrinking market trend, sales were up in their domestic market during November, while overall the market slipped, and likewise overall in Western Europe sales rose 3% last month year-on-year.