|
Any new Alfa Romeo plant wouldn't be the
Fiat Group's first automotive factory in the
US: in 1909 it opened a plant in
Poughkeepsie, located 75 miles north of New
York City, although it ceased operations a
decade later. |
|
|
|
Alfa Romeo
is planning to build cars at a new factory in North
America, a strategy that Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne sees as
vital to making the planned US relaunch become long-term
profitable. His comments came in a wide ranging
interview given in Automotive News Europe
yesterday.
The current
falling value of the US dollar is prompting Europe's
leading automakers to consider building new factories in
the United States. Europe's biggest automaker,
Volkswagen Group, is evaluating plans to built a plant
in the US; it was the first of the modern Europeans to
have an assembly plant in North America but shut it 20
years ago after it struggled to turn in a profit.
Meanwhile prestige European brands, Mercedes-Benz and
BMW both have successful stateside factories, while
other European mass-market automakers considering
building US plants include PSA Peugeot-Citroën.
In the
ANE interview Marchionne said that the US relaunch
of Alfa Romeo would rack up a loss for the first three
or four years, due to competitive pressures and the
weakness of the dollar against the strength of the euro.
"It was already expensive when the dollar was 1.10 to
the euro; now it is more expensive," he told ANE.
Referring to a
new Alfa Romeo factory Marchionne told ANE: "Mid to
long term, I have no doubt we will have to produce in the
NAFTA [North American Free Trade Agreement] area to sell at
a profit in the US." The NAFTA members are made up of the
United States, Mexico and Canada. This in fact wouldn't be
the Fiat Group's first automotive factory in the US as in
1909 it opened a plant in Poughkeepsie, located 75 miles
north of New York City, although it ceased operations a
decade later.
Marchionne also
told ANE yesterday that his previous interest in
buying the Land Rover and Jaguar brands that Ford has
recently put up for sale was parly motivated by the
forthcoming Alfa Romeo stateside relaunch. He was interested
at the time in Land Rover's US distribution network and
Jaguar's architecture and powertrains. He said that both
under Fiat ownership would have been used to the benefit of
Alfa Romeo.
"At the same
time, we felt we would not be able to manage the Jaguar and
Land Rover brands while also leading the proper execution of
the Fiat Group Automobiles re-launch plan," he commented.
However he said he was ready to discuss possible future
cooperation with the new owners of Land Rover and Jaguar,
which are being sold off together. India's Tata Motors, with
whom Fiat already have a wide ranging industrial joint
venture, and are a leading contender to come out as the new
owners. Fiat has been advising Tata on its bid.
|