New Alfa 156 And Alfa Sportwagon

The New Alfa 156 and Sportwagon cars, due to go on sale from 21 June, will replace a model that has been reaping sales success and prestigious awards for five years. Suffice it to say that during this time the car has been the first choice of more than 540,000 customers throughout more than 80 countries. This makes it the current widest selling Fiat Auto model in the world. The car now occupies an enviable position in European segment D, where it has easily tripled the Alfa Romeo share: from 0.7% in 1996 to 2.5% by the end of April 2003 with a peak of 3.6% in 2000. It also boosted overall brand sales, which rose - in Europe - from 117,500 in 1996 (0.9%) to 202,100 in 2001 (1.4%). 2002 also closed with sales of 170,000 cars (1.2%).

It is also interesting to note the sales mix of engines and specifications recorded during 2002. In Europe, for example, Alfa 156 and Sportwagon equipped with JTD engines accounted for 76% of sales while sports versions (2.0 JTS manual and Selespeed gearbox, 2.5 V6 and GTA) represent more than 11% of the total.

Customers were equally divided between those who chose the saloon (51%) and those who prefer the Sportwagon version (49%). As far as the sales mix per specification was concerned, 60% opted for the Progression level and 40% the Distinctive.

All in all, the Alfa 156 has lived up to its promise and managed to achieve major goals. The credit is definitely due to the model's solid grounding: the best of Italian design combined with state-of-the-art engineering and a wide range made up of a host of versions with different power units and gearboxes. These have been complemented by a steady flow of new features to keep the public's attention.