The Alfa Romeo 4C may not be around for very much longer.
According to Autoline, who cited a report from Auto Forecast Solutions, the Alfa Romeo 4C’s production is slated to end by 2020 due to slumping sales of the sports coupe. It also means that a second-generation model isn’t likely to happen.
So far this year, the Italian automaker has sold a mere 309 units, marking a three-percent drop compared to last year’s 320 units. Another possibility causing the Alfa Romeo 4C to be discontinued is that its carbon fiber monocoque isn’t cheap to build, and the market for mid-engine sports cars is dwindling, especially one that doesn’t have power steering.
It will be a sad tale if the Alfa Romeo 4C gets discontinued, considering it heralded the return of the brand in the U.S. But Alfa Romeo does have the Giulia sedan on the horizon that will compete with the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class models, and it is also working on the Stelvio crossover to take advantage of the booming segment.
I'm pretty sure the dealers are discounting them rather than marking them up these days. The hype around the launch is over. There are 178 of them listed on Autotrader, 63 of them used many with absurdly low miles. What that tells me is that people fall out of love with the 4C quickly. It's a quirky car at the same price point as a Porsche Cayman, which is a wonderful car for which you can find a dealer and parts in almost any significantly sized city. The Giulia will have a similar fate no matter how good it is if Alfa doesn't get it's dealership strategy straight. For instance, there are Alfa dealers in Knoxville and Huntsville but none in Nashville or Memphis. Maybe they should have dealerships in the big cities, not the small ones....
I contemplated purchasing one earlier on but with no dealer in Portland and Tonkin Exotic non-committal as to becoming a dealer in the future, I decided to pass and keep my Boxster S. Having to drive to Sea Tac for service or problems, which I am sure would develop, is not on my list of acceptable aggravations.
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