CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said that profits and quality are more important to Alfa than sheer volume
Spend any time in and around a modern Skoda and it’s hard to believe that the roomy, refined, solidly-built car in front of you is wearing the same badge that was once the punchline to a hundred stand-up jokes on British TV. Back in the late 1980s the idea of a Skoda being desirable seemed as far-fetched as Alfa Romeo building something reliable and rust-proof, but maybe it’s about time to retire that old chestnut, too.
This summer, Alfa was the highest-scoring premium brand in JD Power’s Initial Quality Study (and third overall, beaten only by fellow Stellantis brands Ram and Dodge), and now Alfa’s CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato has revealed that his quality drive has been so successful that it’s halved the firm’s warranty costs.
That interesting factoid came out of an interview Imparato gave to Auto News, in which he explained some of the struggles he faced when vacating the top job at Peugeot to sort Alfa out at Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares’ urging. Initiatives included drastically reducing the number of options from 4,000 to 1,500 to simplify the build process, raising prices, and junking Alfa’s existing plan to launch the Tonale as a diesel manual, instead making it a PHEV with a paddle-shift ’box.
advertisement scroll to continue
Related: Alfa Romeo Milano Debuts In April, Here’s What We Know About The New Baby SUV
CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato’s vision has helped boost Alfa’s profits and reputation
“I also found that quality was not where it should have been, so I delayed the launch by six months to fix quality before beginning production,” Imparato told reporters.
The result of those changes is that Alfa’s bottom line looks healthier than it has been in years. The company expects to make an operating profit of several hundred million euros profit this year, and that should only grow with the launch of three new cars between now and 2026. First up is the Tonale’s little brother, the Milano, which will be followed by the electric-only Giulia replacement and second-generation Stelvio. After that, in 2027, Alfa will launch its flagship large EV.
“We have been working on its design for over two years and we are almost there, you will be impressed, trust me,” Imparato teased the team from Auto News. The French CEO also claimed that he wasn’t interested in chasing volume, asserting that profits and quality are more important to Alfa than sheer production numbers.