Good news for local Alfa Romeo dealers and enthusiasts – local Fiat-Chrysler Group CEO Clyde Campbell is a dedicated car enthusiast (he’s off to Pebble Beach next week for his annual visit to the concours d’elegance) and he has big plans for the Italian marque.
First-up is the stunning all-new Alfa Romeo 4C sports car which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. “Yes, it’s coming,” Mr Canpbell told Car Showroom.
But bigger picture, the same philosophy with which Mr Campbell and his team have driven massive sales growth for the company’s American brands (Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge) will support his newly-acquired Italian brands.
“We didn’t acquire Fiat and Alfa Romeo to maintain the status quo,” Mr Campbell said. “We’ve designed our business from the consumer backwards. By asking consumers what they want and going all-out to deliver it, consumers walk into our dealerships in a good frame of mind and we’re able to immediately develop a positive relationship.”
Currently the Fiat-Chrysler Group is nailing-down the backroom side of the Fiat-Alfa Romeo business, including the spare parts operation which will eventually be housed in the company’s massive new head office in Port Melbourne.
Meanwhile the local product planning and marketing teams are preparing to visit Britain (Fiat-Alfa Romeo’s largest right-hand-drive market) to see the products and develop business cases for expanding the local model range.
The good news for local Alfa Romeo dealers and enthusiasts is two-fold – a better product range and extra sales volume will keep prices sharp.
“Again it’s working back from our customers,” Mr Campbell said. “If we delight our customers that means happy dealers, extra sales means a happy head office and a happy head office is easier for us to negotiate with in terms of prices and future models.”
