«The brand that in 2030 is not electric will be dead»

The Frenchman Jean-Philippe Imparato (1966, Sète -France-) became the highest director of
Alfa Romeo in January 2021 after the merger between PSA and FCA from which the Stellantis automobile group emerged. In one year, it has turned the legendary Italian sports brand on its head with an ambitious plan that involves making the leap to electrification, as well as completing the range with new models in the coming years.

The first of the launches piloted by Imparato is the Tonale SUV, which will start rolling on the roads this summer. For its production, it has completely renovated one of the assembly lines of the Stellantis factory in Pomigliano, which will produce the model exclusively for the world.

Since his arrival at the top of Alfa Romeo, Imparato has faced a hostile scenario that is punishing the world economy. After the pandemic, the semiconductor crisis, supply problems, the invasion of Ukraine and an energy crisis were triggered.

-How is the crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, as well as the lack of semiconductors, affecting Alfa Romeo?

– In the case of Tonale, which is in the process of being launched, so there is no volume yet, it is protected by the global umbrella of Stellantis. However, in the cases of the Stelvio and the Giulia this crisis is a daily fight. However, for the moment we are finding solutions and in the first quarter of the year production is going according to plan, which was to repeat the production data of the previous year and we are not going to lose too many cars. However, in this context it is very difficult to give a forecast of what may happen because the situation changes a lot from one month to the next. The positive side is that we have many suppliers and they allow us to find solutions quickly. Although, for example, in April we do not know what the actual supply is going to be, it is a big surprise. In relation to Tonale, which will be released in June-July, we have to wait to see what the situation is at that time.

– What is the forecast in terms of sales?

-We have no prognosis. The Tonale is here and we believe that Alfa Romeo will grow thanks to this model.

-Stellantis mentioned that premium brands would increase their income from 4% to 11%. How many of these will be from Alfa Romeo?

-I don’t have the exact mix of what Alfa will contribute in this 11%. There will be a major launch every year for the next five years, so there will be a major effect on the balance of the brand. This growth will be based on the plan for Alfa, DS and Lancia. When you add up the three brands, it’s huge and will mean completely revamping the range and electrifying it.

-Tonale is a long-awaited car for the brand. Do you think the Tonale is what Alfa needs now or what it needed in 2019?

-Alfa Romeo needs it, given that the C SUV segment is one of the most important in Europe. To increase the income of Alfa you have to have a car in this category. We will also complete our offer in 2024, entering the best-selling segment in the Old Continent. With the Tonale, we can compete with the Volkswagen Tiguan or the BMW X1, something that we could not do until now, and less so in Spain. It is necessary but it is not enough and we are heading in the right direction. At the same time, we are going to keep the Stelvio and Giulia, because they are fantastic cars and, in Italy, they have a 47% share in their segments. One out of every two D-segment combustion cars in Italy is a Stelvio or Giulia. We have to develop our range step by step. To a certain extent, I already did that in my previous responsibility at Peugeot, so we will do the same, in terms of launch frequency. We also don’t want to release 50 cars because buyers can’t absorb them.

-He spoke of the importance of quality over quantity. What is Alpha’s sales margin and what is the target to achieve per unit? Double the current?

-Of course I know, but I can’t give you the data, nor a comparative difference to the current data. If we say double, my mind says sure, Alpha has to double all of his gauges. In a year, we have returned to the black numbers, and it has not been by doing the same as always. The recipe is to increase productivity and reduce cost.

-What position does Spain occupy in Alfa’s global sales?

-It is low, because you are around 2,000 or 2,500 registrations. What I notice when I go to Spain is that there is a lot of passion for the brand, but that customers are waiting for an offer according to what they expect. Of course, in Spain today hybrid, conventional and plug-in cars are needed. I think that is what the Spanish market wants.

At the moment, the regulations have not changed and they continue to reach Euro 7 in 2027. And this requires reducing CO2 by 75% this year. Whoever is not electric in 2030 will be dead. I do not see this regulation changing in the next few years and if it does, we will change. Everyone is investing in charging and electrical infrastructure, although some dream of changes, I don’t think so.

-Alejandro Mesonero conveyed his illusion about customers and that the way of working is to maintain Alfa’s DNA, even if it is in an electric car. How do you imagine the new Stelvio or the new Giulia?

-We are working on it now with Alejandro Mesonero Romanos. We have to see the design of the new models that will come. There are several things that need to be enhanced. On the one hand, inject Alpha’s DNA. Provide them with a high level of performance, which is what customers expect, even in electric models. And thirdly, the interior design. Today, everyone is trying to design a car with a huge touch screen, almost a television. Do we really want that? The answer is no, we are driver-oriented. We are convinced that, in the future, in 2024, we want screen-free spaces. What I want is to protect your freedom of choice and mobility. Always taking into account the design of the steering wheel, the rims, the lighting… It seems fundamental to me. One thing I said was, choose how you’d like to have the screen and we’re going to go for it. And something that we have very clear in Alfa Romeo is that we will never bet on false, invented sounds in the electric. So very soon Alejandro Mesonero and I will show you what this future generation will look like in our cars.