Stellantis, what have they done to alfa romeo?
Discussion
Lucky enough to be on the hunt for a new car — just for me this time. The family runs a 2025 Vauxhall Grandland. It’s fine. Nothing special. Gets the job done.
Now I’m eyeing something more personal — the Cupra Formentor, Alfa Romeo Junior, and Mercedes CLA. All hybrids. All around the £30k mark.
The Formentor really stands out. Yes, it’s part of the VW Group, but it feels different. Better design, sharper materials — a real identity of its own. It’s not just a rebadged Golf with copper accents.
The Alfa Junior though? Painful. A clear-cut Stellantis rebadge job. It is a Peugeot 2008/Citroën C4 underneath — and it drives like it. Same shape. Same cabin materials. Same feel. But with a £10k markup and a badge that used to mean something.
What are they doing to this brand? Where’s the Italian passion? The driver focus? The flair? Alfa used to make hearts race — now it’s just a C4 in red trousers. A little more engineering, a little more soul, and they could’ve made something special. Instead, it feels like a cash grab in a nice badge
Now I’m eyeing something more personal — the Cupra Formentor, Alfa Romeo Junior, and Mercedes CLA. All hybrids. All around the £30k mark.
The Formentor really stands out. Yes, it’s part of the VW Group, but it feels different. Better design, sharper materials — a real identity of its own. It’s not just a rebadged Golf with copper accents.
The Alfa Junior though? Painful. A clear-cut Stellantis rebadge job. It is a Peugeot 2008/Citroën C4 underneath — and it drives like it. Same shape. Same cabin materials. Same feel. But with a £10k markup and a badge that used to mean something.
What are they doing to this brand? Where’s the Italian passion? The driver focus? The flair? Alfa used to make hearts race — now it’s just a C4 in red trousers. A little more engineering, a little more soul, and they could’ve made something special. Instead, it feels like a cash grab in a nice badge
BigsimonY said:
What are they doing to this brand? Where s the Italian passion? The driver focus? The flair? Alfa used to make hearts race now it s just a C4 in red trousers. A little more engineering, a little more soul, and they could ve made something special. Instead, it feels like a cash grab in a nice badge
Aside from the Giulia and Stelvio, Alfa have been struggling with getting consistently good cars out for decades. It's not new.blueg33 said:
ninepoint2 said:
blueg33 said:
Giulia is lovely - Alfa dealers are painfully bad
Round here they are all Arnie Shark owned, probably the main reason they are grim. I work for another stellantis branch and the support to dealer is useless .
Ie we can't get parts straight from fiat now it has to go thru our local hub who are uselsss (totally random delivery times)
The whole parts system is dire , basically i can see if stocks in my local hub , the uk main depot or Italy however just because it shows online doesn't acually mean it is in stock , so for instance last friday ordered a part showing in stock in the uk depot didn't turn up mon or tues and i get told the eta is 14th july !
Orders just disapear , so i chase up a order and just get told you'll get credited and the part re-ordered , there seems to be no understanding we have customers who actually want there vehicles fixed and time is of the essense .
blueg33 said:
Poor service, disinterested, over priced, dated uncomfortable waiting areas if they even have a waiting area, automatic denial of warranty claims, insufficient customer parking.
The only good one was Johnson s in Solihull but they closed down.
To be fair to Stellantis, as long as I’ve been reading P.H similar things have been said about Alfa. They have been one of those makes which for years seems to have been in poor business health. I do like the cars though. On the topic of showrooms, also mentioned, I’m not convinced that really plush plate glass premises matter as much as a decent workshop. The only good one was Johnson s in Solihull but they closed down.
Lester H said:
blueg33 said:
Poor service, disinterested, over priced, dated uncomfortable waiting areas if they even have a waiting area, automatic denial of warranty claims, insufficient customer parking.
The only good one was Johnson s in Solihull but they closed down.
To be fair to Stellantis, as long as I ve been reading P.H similar things have been said about Alfa. They have been one of those makes which for years seems to have been in poor business health. I do like the cars though. On the topic of showrooms, also mentioned, I m not convinced that really plush plate glass premises matter as much as a decent workshop. The only good one was Johnson s in Solihull but they closed down.
stellanits are not doing well and the tonale is utter turd, but the Junior is doing very well on the continent and by all accounts a best in class drive, per andrew english and others, and has been worked on extensively in that area to differentiate it as a drivers choice (well within reason given the bracket its in...)
Somewhat ironic op given they think the cupra is bit different than other vw rebadged stuff, yet its just had some comical copper colored tat bolted on instead and is exactly the same as the rest of the vw stable. i guess if your priorities are 3d number plates and what the transformers badge look like you will love a cynical marketing ploy rather than something that has actually been fettled to be different, bit may not come in the right shade of metallic brown.
Somewhat ironic op given they think the cupra is bit different than other vw rebadged stuff, yet its just had some comical copper colored tat bolted on instead and is exactly the same as the rest of the vw stable. i guess if your priorities are 3d number plates and what the transformers badge look like you will love a cynical marketing ploy rather than something that has actually been fettled to be different, bit may not come in the right shade of metallic brown.
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