Alfa Romeo phased out the 159 several months ago. Its replacement is far from ready, but sales were slow and Fiat needed the production capacity to build the third-generation Panda.
That leaves European Alfa dealers with only the MiTo and the Giulietta to sell. Fortunately for them, the Giulietta is one of the most popular Alfas in recent years; data gathered by JATO Dynamics suggests that the hatchback accounted for about 60% of Alfa’s European sales in the first nine months of 2011.
To capitalize on that success, Alfa is currently working on a station wagon version of the Giulietta that will likely be dubbed the Giulietta Sport Wagon. Two Alfa executives told Automotive News Europe that it will make its debut in the middle of 2013.
The sources went on to say that the Giulietta wagon will not be exported to the United States. Interestingly enough, they also added that the Italian automaker might change its mind and not import the Giulietta to the United States after all. Several studies conducted there suggested that buyers found the interior to be too narrow.
Alfa Romeo is not traditionally known for making station wagons but there have been some over the years. In recent memory, both the 159 and the 156 had wagon versions.
Going further back, the boxer-engined 33 had a Sportwagon version, the Alfasud was sold as a funky three-door wagon called Giardinetta, and several coachbuilders (including Colli) converted 105 series Giulia sedans to wagons in the 1960s.
References
1.’Alfa to add…’ view
