Alfa Romeo should return to the American market within two years and even Fiat's 500 city car may cross the Atlantic, according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.
Speaking at the Geneva International Automobile Show, Marchionne added that in order to be profitable in the United States, the next Alfa Romeo model would have to be produced there.
''At present we don't know where to produce it, but it is impossible to build a (standard) car in Europe and then sell it in the US at a profit,'' the Fiat CEO explained.
Alfa Romeo stopped exporting cars to the US in 1995.
Marchionne ruled out producing Alfa Romeo cars for the US market in South America, where Fiat has a number of plantS, because ''production at our factories in Brazil and Argentina is booked up through next year, and even in Europe we are approaching full production capacity''.
But the Fiat boss was not complaining because running at full capacity ''is the only way to make a decent profit''.
Establishing a sales and service network in the US for Alfa Romeo was not a problem, Marchionne observed, ''because we have several options open to us''.
These included using the network of Fiat's American farm and earth moving subsidiary CNH.
''We could even go it alone, but that would take time. Or we could hook up with some of our 'friends'. For example if Tata buys Jaguar-Land Rover we could use their network in the US,'' Marchionne said.
Fiat and the Indian carmaker have a strategic alliance which includes producing cars for the Indian market, under both of their marques, while Tata also handles sales and service for Fiat in India. ''The most important thing for us will be to offer client service,'' the FIAT CEO stressed.
Turning his attention to the trendy new 500, Marchionne said the city car was ''sellable'' in the US ''but it cannot go it alone'' on the American market.
''Either we increase the number of different versions of the 500, something we are already working on, or else we can't approach that market. We have to be careful the 500 does not become a flash-in-the-pan success, as is often the case with new models in the US,'' Marchionne said.
In response to General Motors Chairman Rick Wagoner's observation that the 500 could be sold on the UAS market, but not now, Marchionne replied ''I will gladly sell him one myself''.
Fiat and GM were partners from 2000 to 2005. Aside from the 500, Marchionne announced here that Fiat is working on a new city car which is currently in the design stage.
''We don't know how long it will take to come out because it's still on the drawing board. Once we decide what it will look like, it will take another 18-20 months to produce. In any case, the sooner we come out with this car the better it will be,'' the Fiat CEO said.
