Fiat would not sell Alfa Romeo to any other car maker even if it was offered “tonnes of money”.
Fiat chairman John Elkann told reporters at the Detroit motor show that the firm had big plans for the Alfa, including a relaunch in the US in 2012.
Alfa Romeo, which has seen sales drop significantly from a peak of 300,000 units per year to around 40 per cent of that now, has received particular interest from the Volkswagen Group in recent months.
Full story: VW boss interested in Alfa
VW chief Martin Winterkorn told Autocar at the Paris motor show last year that if Fiat wanted to sell Alfa, VW would be interested.
“It’s a beautiful brand but there are quality issues with the engines and suspension systems, for example,” he said. “I’m quite sure we could make a beautiful brand out of Alfa again.”
Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne backed up Elkann’s comments, saying: “Alfa is part of Fiat's operational perimeter and we've already invested too much to get rid of it.”
Marchionne added that a saloon version of its new Giulia would likely be the first model to be sold in the US by Alfa, and it could even be made there should a deal not be reached with unions to build the car at its Mirafiori plant in Turin.
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