Alfa Romeo future product

Alfa Romeo fans, your day is coming. Some day… Not sure when, but some day. If Alfa keeps their promise to sell cars in the US again sooner rather than later, you can look forward to a pretty cool lineup of cars. Alfa has brought out some very nice vehicles and is working on a few more now that will debut in the next year or two.

Most importantly they will be engineered to comply with US safety regs and start showing up here in the 2009-2010 timeframe. A big holdup for Alfa has been establishing a sales network in the US, having looked at using a variety of existing outlets ranging from Maserati, Land Rover, to MINI.  They’ve also been exploring the possibility of making cars in the US, having looked around for sites and at some of Chrysler’s underutilized factories.

While there is no clear commitment on exactly what models will be coming to the US, the crew over at Autoblog had a chance to speak directly with Alfa Romeo management and to see what they’ll be producing in the coming years.   

• Alfa has a really high-end sportscar with the 8C Competizione and they have committed to bring over as many as 100 out of a grand total of only 500 units.  They are now working on a special higher performance model with more power and a little less weight, but it is limited to a total run of 100 units.
• The MiTo, the name stands for Milan and Torino, is a small and stylish 2-door hatchback meant to compete with the MINI Cooper.
• The 149, an all new 5-door hatchback model about the size of a Golf
• A small, sporty convertible model inspired by the Spider that was made popular by Dustin Hoffman’s The Graduate.
• The 169, a large executive car that would compete in the E-class/5-series segment.  This is definitely a couple years off as Alfa is still working to find a suitable RWD platform.  According to Alfa execs, expect something truly stunning and beautiful.
• An SUV inspired by the Kamal concept of 2003, a more stylish and very Italian alternative along the lines of the BMW X6 and Infiniti FX.

Alfa Romeo also has a smallish sedan called the 159 that would probably redesigned by the time it comes to the US.  It was introduced 3 years ago and has already had a slight refresh.