Alfa Romeo Delays U.S. Launches

FRANKFURT—Alfa Romeo, the sports car brand of the Fiat SpA group, has postponed the launch of three new models by almost two years, including the Giulia sedan which was to help mark its return to the United States, according to a presentation Wednesday.
Alfa Romeo has also canceled plans to make a large sports utility vehicle, or SUV, replacing it with a large sedan that could be built by Chrysler Group LLC, the Italian automaker's U.S. partner. All of the models were planned for the U.S. market.
Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said in April the launch of the Giulia could be postponed by a few months because he wasn't happy with its design. Alfa Romeo said it will launch the Giulia in 2014, nearly two years later than originally planned.
Two further models are also due to for launch in the U.S. The two-seater 4C GTA—the first model Alfa Romeo is bringing to the country—will now go to market a year later than planned, in 2012. A mid-sized SUV is due in 2013.
The dates were given in a presentation by the brand's head, Harald Wester, at a conference hosted by UBS on the sidelines of the Frankfurt motor show and available on the firm's website.
The mid-sized SUV is due to be built alongside a new SUV model for Chrysler's Jeep brand at the Mirafiori plant in Turin, Fiat's home town in northwest Italy. But Fiat has suspended the plant's refurbishment due to an unresolved dispute with a workers' union. The launches are also delayed because Fiat has yet to decide where to manufacture some of the models.