Alfa Giulia rejected

Fiat-Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has ordered Alfa’s designers to try again with the new Giulia, the 2013 replacement for the 159 sedan and wagon.

“I don’t think it’s an Alfa,” he said recently. “You could take off the badge, and it could be German.” The Giulia is the key model in Alfa’s plan to return to the US in late 2012 or early 2013 after an absence of almost 20 years, and Marchionne is worried.

“If we butcher that one, we’re done,” he said. Asked if he thought a complete exterior makeover was required Marchionne said: “My gut says yes...” Fiat Group design chief Lorenzo Ramaciotti confirmed the redo was under way.

“We are already working on alternatives, the problem is that we have to work on a certain platform.”

The Giulia is to be built on an enlarged version of the Fiat Group’s new Compact architecture (basis of the new Giulietta), known as Compact Wide.

Ramaciotti said the architecture’s hard points weren’t the best basis for a beautiful car.