Fiat recently announced that the relaunch of the storied, sporting Alfa Romeo marque in the U.S. would be delayed—again—until roughly 2013. This postponement was attributed to Fiat’s CEO, Sergio Marchionne, expressing dissatisfaction with the design of the upcoming Alfa Romeo models, including a new mid-size sedan.
Whether you’re an Alfista or not, though, you probably know that Alfa has been teasing, hinting at, implying, and outright confirming a return to the U.S. market ever since the brand left in 1995. That retreat was made in the face of horrendously low sales and a merited reputation for rotten quality, although, to be fair, Alfa sales have always been weak here, with the company’s high being just 8201 units in 1986.
To commemorate the latest delay, we’ve assembled a timeline of Alfa’s declarations of an American return; it begins in 2000, when the company entered into a partnership with General Motors. And for historical context, we’ve added some world events that occurred during the same time span.
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