Alfa Romeo will be left without its twin of the Mazda MX-5

Alfa Romeo has lost many options for building the future Italian twin of the next generation of the Mazda MX-5. Internal sources at the Fiat Group have confirmed this to Automotive News. According to them, both companies will meet soon to decide how to carry out this change of strategy.

The initial agreement signed between Mazda and Alfa Romeo envisaged that these manufacturers would launch two-seat convertibles at the beginning of 2015. But the CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Sergio Marchionne, has repeatedly stated that Alfa will not have models built outside Italy in its range while he holds his current post.

This scraps the plan to revive the Duetto, the name the convertible version from Alfa Romeo was supposedly going to adopt. However, Fiat cannot afford to breach the agreement signed with Mazda either, because the penalty would be too heavy and would take it further from its goal of returning to profitability in 2016. Lancia is totally ruled out, as are Ferrari and Maserati for obvious reasons.

The only candidates, therefore, would be Abarth or Fiat. Given the circumstances these two brands currently find themselves in, Abarth is perhaps the one with the greatest chances. The concept of a light sports convertible fits perfectly with its philosophy, and its past was no stranger to vehicles of this kind. In any case, what has not changed is that the future model will be built by Mazda in Hiroshima and will use a 1.4 turbocharged petrol engine.

Source | Automotive News