Mr Bond

Looks good, but I did as an old Alfa enthusiast expected a little bit more extreme design on the exterior. I have seen this design before and the front looks more like an evolution of the Alfa147 than a new era.

But the thing with Alfa is not the looks of it. Its the feeling when you drive it

zema

Nice sound

TangoRed

Wow! Please tell me how you were able to assess the quality of the interior through these pictures. I didn't know you were able to touch materials through your monitor. I'm also going to point out the BMW 3-series has been regularly criticized for the quality of its interior, so not sure where you were going with that anyways.

zema

Source: Autovisie.nl

NickTee

Someone's mad.

Thank you for pointing it out, because I didn't realize the 3-series, one of the cheapest BMWs you can buy, embodied both Mercedes and BMW's quality. Way to go there, Target. Right on point.

The steering wheel controls and light controls look like something pulled off of a Malibu, or some other American car, the HVAC controls are all very basic and cheap-looking, etc. It's like looking at a lower-end 2012 C300 with carbon fiber everywhere and calling it a C63 AMG. *Chuckle*

cino

iTrader: (1)

C-class interior looks better than 3's, but it doesn't feel any more superior IMO. I personally like the interior design of Guilia better, and that carbon fiber dash is eye candy. Steering wheel looks like something from German concept cars and that push start button on steering wheel is a clever implementation (not ideal, but clever). They could have gone with digital speedo, but traditional isn't half bad really. Big plus is, Guilia doesn't have a tablet sitting on the dash.

I guarantee you will be underwhelmed by C-class interior just as 3s. They are called "entry" luxury for a reason.

EDIT: You could go further to compare a mid-engine BMW or Mercedes to Alfa Romeo 4C, oh wait.
Alfa is a niche brand with Ferrari heritage under its belt. Why do we even compare it to a mainstream luxu.

I8ABMR

stunning. No way in hell I would even lease one when they came out though. SAD

TangoRed

Whelp, seeing as how the Giulia is a direct competitor to the 3-series it was a very valid comparison. So yes, right on point. I'm also really not getting your C300 vs. C63 comparison...the switchgear is the exact same. If you look at a 2012 C300, the same year C63 AMG is literally the same damn thing with more carbon fiber and better seats.

And again, to revisit your first post, you merely looking and forming an opinion on quality is laughable. I'm not going to debate your opinion, but you have no idea about the actual quality of the interior materials. They very well may suck, but no one has been in it yet to find out.

spwolf

I can understand that Alfa was not available in the USA for a long time... but Alfa has been around Europe forever.

Reason people do not trust FCA when it comes to Alfa is because in reality Alfa has had nothing to do with Ferrari or Maserati for past 30 years... it was Fiat's sporty wannabe premium brand that has failed to deliver with every single model they have produced since I remember.

It always starts great and ends horrible... thats a life of Alfista. When Giulietta was introduced in 2010, it was instant classic - probably one of the best looking compact hatches ever produced. Far nicer than this Giulia vs competition... 12 months later, serious issues appeared with DCT transmissions where pretty much almost everyone had their replaced, several times. Thats a life of Alfista.

As to Giulia, I think this version looks fine... but I dont think base car based on this interior will look anywhere close to class leading.. i hope i am wrong but it looks way cheaper than C class and even base BMWs.

Also, there is nothing niche about Alfa... Alfa is not a niche brand, Alfa is not attempting to be a niche brand. It is a mainstream brand that Fiat mishandled and destroyed in past 10 years.

FCA's plans for Alfa is 400k sales by 2018. Thats 4x sales of Jaguar and about similar to Volvo sales, but with much, much smaller amount of models.

For Alfa to reach 400k sales that FCA announced as their plan few days back, this Giulia has to be smash success and take significant sales from Germans in Europe, based on strength of fleet models. Alfa has to beat many other manufacturers that have not disappeared in the past 10 years, such as Jaguar, Volvo, Acura, Infiniti, etc.

Heck, FCA is planning for Alfa Romeo to beat Infiniti and match Acura in the USA with 150k yearly sales by 2018.

All of that sounds very crazy to me. But who knows, maybe they will manage to sell 1.4t and 2.2JDM at Mercedes prices (planned starting price is €35k Euros - same as new XE). Maybe they will instantly rebuild their long lost dealer network and maybe they will increase their sales by 700% in next 3 years, soundly beating brands like ones mentioned above... maybe pigs will fly as well.

chromedome

Agreed. Maybe most of the commenters here are from the US where the last Alfa was the 164. In Europe and Asia, Alfa were selling the 159 and continue to sell the Mito and Giulietta. Interesting cars but as a prior owner, I found them horribly unreliable and whatever allure they had evaporated when stuff starts falling off.

Alfa and Fiat are mad if they think they can sell more cars than Jaguar. Their reputation in Europe is dire and no buyer in their right mind would go for a Giulia compared to the bestseller 320d.

TangoRed

I can agree on their over-ambitious sales targets. Marchionne is an interesting guy, that's for sure...

cino

iTrader: (1)

What I mean is, Mercedes has a range from A class to S class, and BMW has 1 to 7 series. Alfa doesn't have a comparable lineup. If we want to compare, we should compare the car in the same segment, not the entire lineup. Remember we were talking about interior quality/design, not reliability. I have no comment about the reliability, I don't have a solid argument or proof of that.

spwolf

Jag sells very small amount of cars :-). But I guess new XE should change that. LR on the other hand is successful and they overall make a lot of money for Tata.

However, them thinking they can match Acura in the USA and beat Infiniti in 3 years? 400% increase their European sales with many dealers closed today?

Looking over at Alfa sales in Europe, they have 205k in 2001 and they have 59k in 2014. And thats with very strong Italian market for them where most of the sales are.

Brantta

Just a little bit of fact checking.
1. 4x sales of Jaguar in 2014 (3 models)
2. FCA's plans for Alfa is 400k sales in 2018 across 8 models
So, 8 Alfas are much smaller amount of models than 3 Jaguars or 6 Volvos? What?

400k sales world-wide across 8 models, including two CUV's. It's not just Giulia.

Jaguar, Volvo, Acura, Infiniti, Cadillac,...they are all damaged brands.
Increase from 67k to 400k is 500%, not 700%.

European sales:
2014 sales - 59k
2018 plan - 150k
That's increase of 150%, not 400%. But it's a 300% increase of Alfa models, 2 --> 8. (4c not included)

Very strong Italian market, you say?
Italian market sales:
2001 - 2.4 million
2014 - 1.35 million

mmarshall

If it's true carbon fiber trim, though, and not the fake stuff, that is not a cheap material.