Tuesday morning saw Alfa Romeo CEO Antonio Baravalle and Mikhail Bakhtiarov, President of the exclusive distributor, Major, inaugurating the first brand-new sales and service facility in Moscow as Alfa Romeo is officially re-launched in Russia.

On display in the new showroom were examples of the Alfa 147 hatchback, the new Alfa 159 sedan and the Bertone-styled GT Coupé; the first three models that Major has identified to put on sale in Russia, and a part of a batch of fifty cars that arrived from Italy just a fortnight ago. At the same time Major has opened the order book for the Brera and Spider models. "Major has many years of experience in selling and servicing automobiles from the premium class, and have a great circle of loyal clients. Specifically, this was the criterion in selecting Major as the company which would be the exclusive partner for the brand on this market," commented Baravalle during the inauguration. As well as the Alfa CEO, Simone Guidetti, in charge of Alfa Romeo export's, attended the ceremony.

The inauguration took place at a purpose-developed new facility located at Major's large site at Lykovskiy Proezd 13, in the city's Krasnopresnenskiy district. This is the business centre of the Russian capital, and is home to The Centre for International Trade, the ITAR-TACC news agency, the Expocentre, and the White House. Approaching completion in the district is the international business centre Moscow City, and construction is well underway of the Krasnopresnenski Prospekt highway, which will link the city centre to Novorizhskoye Shosse. The new 220 square metre showroom was created by a promising new Russian designer, and is also backed up by state-of-the-art facilities, for "express service", diagnosis, original parts and bodyshop.
 

Below a huge imprint of the Alfa 8C Competizione and other models, Baravalle discussed what he regards as the three elements that make up Alfa Romeo's DNA: elegance, a sporty spirit and style; and he quoting the well known historical phrase uttered by Henry Ford: "each time, I see an Alfa Romeo, I raise my hat". Turning to the new Alfa 8C Competizione Baravalle said: "It was recently launched at the Parisian auto salon, and will be made in a run of only 500 copies. Moreover, more than 1,000 claims were made by customers during the 15 days after declaring the beginning of sales."

Major was awarded exclusive distribution of Alfa Romeo cars in October this year. The company is targeting selling 2,000 Alfa Romeo models in 2007. Initially it will open two dedicated showrooms, one in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg, but has ambitious plans to open dealerships, incorporating sales and service points, in a further seventeen Russian cities.

They have gathered much experience with selling new cars in Russia, including premium segment products, as it presently holds dealership franchises for a wide number of European and US carmakers, including Volvo, Chrysler, Jeep, Mazda, Honda, and Nissan, Ford, Skoda, Land Rover, Chrysler, Dodge and Renault. The group also owns an important shipping and distribution company, providing a ready logistical network, and a car rental business.