TMW - The new Giulia will either make or break Alfa Romeo, so this car has got to be right first time.

The new Midsized compact car thats about to be launched to the public is a car that will make or break the company, it is as simple as that, the current Alfa range relies heavily on parts bin technolgy for the brance of hatchback cars and the limited low volume sports cars, barely bring in enough to keep things ticking over.

So FCA is rely heavily on this first all new car from Alfa Romeo to take sales from the competitors that already have a proven track record, the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Volvo, Audi and more, will this new car be able to do this, but more importantly will it do it to make the billions of investment seem worth while. 

The first of a planned eight car revival has already had a struggle to get here, with a few delays and changes along the way, all because this car has to be good, and good enough to beat the rest, only time will tell, and whether the buying public will take to the new car or not, but it has all the ingredients to be good.

The car is rear wheel drive, thats a plus,it is beautiful, thats a winner too, it has a new sports architecture to take the fight to the best, Good, and the name can still generate a lot of good will, even if the current crop of cars are not the best in the world.

The entire program of new models is based on how good this car is, and at the recent press event it was stated "The credibility of the program depends on this car" so the bosses are not hiding the fact that the brand is at stake if this car fails.

The total spent on just the architecture for this car runs at over $1.1 Billion, and this will be used to feature in the other models that should come over the coming few years, initial sales of the Giulia is over 100,000 units next year, thats  significant hike on the brands current sales.

If it works than there will be many more billions spent on other saloons/Sedans, SUV's, hatchbacks and so on, to bring Alfa back from the brink of extinction.

Sales of the car should begin in the United States sometime round the end of Q3 start of Q4, China will be next where FCA is relying massively on volume to keep it at the pinnacle of global sales, but then so is everyother premium brand, so it will be interesting to see how Alfa fairs in China, based on the current reputation in Europe.

Alfa is ginning for all out power in the new car, starting with the 2.0 litre petrol and 2.2 litre diesel in Europe, Diesels and the USA do not seem to be going together well at present, but thats another story, the flagship model will be a Ferrari derived 510hp Twin Turbo V6, Quadrifoglio to go up against the BMW M brand.

This supersaloon has already been delayed once to ensure that it is spot on to compete with the competition, no more delays are acceptable, FCA CEO Sergio marchionne was quoted as saying that "The project was technically immature," and "We will start only when we are on par with the Germans, otherwise it is not worth the effort,"

The new model is aimed squarely at the driver, rather than the bland cars that frequent this segment, there are only a few cars that can win here, Alfa, Volvo and AMG are three, BMW are just to brash and in your face both in looks and ride, the others do it without having to have millions of spoilers, wings and so on.

At €35,500 estimated start price in Italy, it's priced more in tune with premium models and it will be this that will either allow the other seven all new models to be made or not, the timescale has already been stretched to 2020 for the full range of cars to be on sale by, and the sales will be in the region of 400,000 units annually, or thats what FCA are aiming for.

The road to rebirth has not been easy, everything is new, and everyone from the factory to the showroom has to be retrained, and this will just grow, there is supposed to be two new models next year, one of which will be a segment busting SUV, something any brand MUST have these days.

SO in conclusion, Alfa Romeo is a truly great brand, that has been beaten and kicked for decades, the cars that it should be selling have never been developed, the cars it has are just face lifted Fiat's, and no amount of leather, soft touch plastics and quality feel switchgear can take you away from that.

This is Alfa's last chance saloon, if they screw this up, it could be over for the Italian brand, and if it is, will FCA give into VW's constant purchase requests, and if they do, would VW now be in the position to be able to do Alfa Justice, as Fiat haven't so far.