Revitalised Alfa Romeo Launch Their New Brera Sports Coupe

April 3rd, 2006

Revitalised to the tune of £6.5 million for their above the line marketing activities, Alfa Romeo will also have a revitalised model line up in the UK by the middle of the year.

With their relatively new Alfa 146 three and five door hatchbacks achieving a modest growth in sales it is the recently introduced Alfa 159 four door sports saloon launched in February which will be its volume seller. But it is the Alfa Brera sports coupe, the eventual replacement for the GT, which goes on sale from 8 April, that is one of its new ‘halo’ models and the flagship of their new range.

Other important additions to the range will be the 159 Sportswagon due in May followed by the biggest ‘halo’ model of all, the Alfa Spider due in June.

Alfa Romeo say the 159, the Sportswagon, Brera and Spider, plus considerable marketing activities which includes television advertising for the first time in two years, should give the once famous brand real impetus to improve its annual sales in the short-term from 6,400 units last year to 8,000 units this year.

Alfa Romeo UK see 2006 as a period of consolidation following years of decline in the UK, 20 per cent down last year, which made the UK Europe’s worst market for Alfa Romeo. The lack of direction from the former Alfa Romeo UK management, lack of new products, lack of investment and disillusioned dealers all combined to cause the decline.

With a new UK management board, more marketing money, new models and a refocused dealer network new managing director Christopher Nicoll said, ""Our targets are realistic and modest and our ambition is to achieve around a 0.7 or 0.8% share of the UK car market in the future. Initially around 10,000 annual sales are the realistic target with the new models we have coming and these new products will deliver more growth for the brand in the UK."

Speaking at the UK media introduction of the Brera, Nicoll said that out of the 8,000 sales the brand should achieve in the UK this year, the Brera and Spider models should account for 2,100 sales with a 50-50 split between models and 25 per cent of these sales would be for diesel variants. The 159 saloons and 159 Sportswagons are targeted to reach around 3,500 UK sales this year with the Sportswagon variants achieving 35 per cent of that total.

Alfa says the new Bera is a 2+2 sports coupe in the classic Alfa Romeo tradition and the production version is very close to the award winning concept design first shown at the 2002 Geneva Motor Show. The coupe has been designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Alfa’s own styling house and built by Pininfarina is available in six versions priced from £22,800 to £29,850.

Initially the Brera is available with two direct injection petrol and diesel engines and in one months time another new 3.2-litre, V6, 260bhp, petrol engine with Alfa’s Q4 four wheel drive system will be added to the range. For its debut this month the Brera has the option of a new 2.2-litre, 4-cylinder 185bhp petrol engine and their well liked 2.4-litre, 5-cylinder turbocharged MultiJet common rail direct injection turbocharged diesel unit with a for life maintenance free particulate trap filter in anticipation of Euro VI emission regulations. All models use a six-speed manual transmission but automatic transmission options will be available by the end of this year.

There are two levels of specification, Brera and Brera SV and Nicoll expects 90 per cent of customers to choose the SV package which includes leather interior trim, stainless steel kick-plates, brushed aluminium centre consol and trim inserts and 17 inch alloy wheels as opposed to the standard 16-inch alloy wheels. The 3.2 Q4 models will have 17 inch wheels as standard.

Standard Brera specification includes, electric windows, dual zone climate control, remote central locking with alarm, seven airbags, stereo radio and CD with six speakers, leather steering wheel and gear knob, fog lights, rear parking sensors, cruise control, multifunction display, anti-lock braking, rear arm rest with a panel access to the boot and 60/40 split folding rear seats. Extra cost options range from a huge Sky View panoramic laminated glass sunroof, Xenon headlights, satellite navigation, electrically adjustable front seats, a BOSE sound system, Bluetooth mobile phone connectivity and 18-inch alloy wheels.

The 2+2 coupe design allows for 300 litres of luggage space with the rear seats in position and 610 litres when the seats are folded.

Using a shortened platform of the new generation one used for the Alfa 159 saloon and Sportswagon, Alfa say the Brera sports coupe has an extremely rigid bodyshell for safety and predictable handling characteristics under all conditions. Torsional strength they say is vital in this sector of high performance coupes.

Entry Filed under: Car News, Alfa Romeo