Fiat has been talking seriously about bringing Alfa Romeo back to these shores since early 2000, making a decade of delays in the brand's relaunch. Most recently, the company's debut has been pushed back to sometime in 2013. To commemorate the anniversary of Fiat's colossal history of setbacks, Car and Driver put together a time table of the promised Alfa Romeo launch.
The story begins on March 27, 2000, when Fiat announced it had partnered with General Motors to bring Alfas to the States by 2003. The first delay came less than a year later, when Fiat and GM announced that Alfas would move through Cadillac and Saab dealers starting in 2005.
Obviously, none of that came even remotely true. In 2002, the relaunch got pushed back to 2007. In 2004, it was killed altogether. The Italians changed their minds again in 2005, going back to 2007 as the year of the Alfa. Need we go on? The promises, cancellations and delays have carried on this way through two wars, two presidents, an economic nosedive and the odd oil crisis thrown in for good measure.
At this point, we'd really like to believe that we'll see an attainable Alfa in the USA by 2013, but history makes the time table hard to believe. Head over to Car and Driver to see a full infographic of Fiat's waffling.
The story begins on March 27, 2000, when Fiat announced it had partnered with General Motors to bring Alfas to the States by 2003. The first delay came less than a year later, when Fiat and GM announced that Alfas would move through Cadillac and Saab dealers starting in 2005.
Obviously, none of that came even remotely true. In 2002, the relaunch got pushed back to 2007. In 2004, it was killed altogether. The Italians changed their minds again in 2005, going back to 2007 as the year of the Alfa. Need we go on? The promises, cancellations and delays have carried on this way through two wars, two presidents, an economic nosedive and the odd oil crisis thrown in for good measure.
At this point, we'd really like to believe that we'll see an attainable Alfa in the USA by 2013, but history makes the time table hard to believe. Head over to Car and Driver to see a full infographic of Fiat's waffling.
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