Volkswagen “seriously interested” in Alfa Romeo

Volkswagen’s quest to grab the world’s biggest car maker title from Toyota has taken a new twist with news it wants to buy Alfa Romeo. It’s all a bit like shcoolyard secrets at the moment, though, with executives from Volkswagen and Fiat only willing to provide quotes on condition of anonymity.

Automotive News Europe says not one, but two Volkswagen employees have said they are “seriously interested” in purchasing Alfa Romeo. In reply the secret Fiat exec told ANE, “We have no intention at all of selling the brand to VW.”

Rumours of VW’s interest in the iconic Italian manufacturer emerged late last year. Indeed, in April Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn admitted he admired Alfa, but there were currently no plans to add another brand to the Volkswagen Group.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne reckons they can push Alfa Romeo into the premium segment and achieve 500,000 sales per year by 2014. Just 102,000 sales were registered in 2009. It’s certainly an ambitious target.

Credit Suisse motoring expert Arndt Ellinghorst thinks it may be too ambitious and says the might of the Volkswagen Group would be necessary, “Maybe Alfa could get to a half million unit sales a year, but only after the brand is sold to Volkswagen.”

Whatever the outcome of this latest motoring marriage something needs to be done to support Alfa Romeo. It is understood the maker has been costing Fiat €200–400 million per year in losses over the last decade.

Follow the source link below and to learn how some analysts think Volkswagen should add Alfa Romeo to its portfolio at the expense of the Seat brand.

[Source: Automotive News Europe]