Yet another automaker has announced plans to back off full electrification goals in favor of a mixed approach. Alfa Romeo said it would not continue with its goal to become fully electric by 2027, saying it will now pursue a “multi-energy” roadmap.
Automotive News reported on the announcement, which came at this year’s NADA show in New Orleans. Alfa chief Chris Feuell told the publication that, “The biggest thing in our product and technology road map is transitioning from what was a BEV-only strategy for Alfa to one that is multi-energy. We’ve got 110 dealers in our U.S. network, and it would be very challenging for them to survive with a BEV-only portfolio.’
Alfa’s sales have tumbled four years in a row here in the U.S., and the automaker has a glut of 2024 inventory left on dealers’ lots. It plans to move those units with incentives, but there’s a long way to go, as last year’s models account for around half of its dealer inventory today.
Feuell said the company is working to avoid a repeat of 2024’s performance, which led to dealer closures. “I was very transparent with dealers in laying out my understanding of the operational performance and financial performance of the dealer network. If we replicate what happened in 2024, we’ll lose a lot of dealers, and we need to rebuild the network rather than deplete it. We’re down to 110 dealers from where we were at 150.”
She said that rebuilding the brand is a focus, but an even more pressing issue is recovering sales volume, with quality at the forefront. Feuell noted that the high costs of warranty repairs are a burden and said that the brand needs to improve quality to avoid so many fixes during the warranty coverage period.
[Images: Alfa Romeo]
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