On December 15th, at the Alfa Romeo Online Media Roundtable, we interviewed Mr. Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO of Alfa Romeo Global, on Alfa Romeo's brand strategy and product planning for the next year. It also asked Chinese fans about China's first official F1 racing driver to join the Alfa Romeo F1 team, let's see how Mr. Imparato answered:
Mr. Imparato, Global CEO
Question: My first question is, there was news that Alfa Romeo would abandon the existing Giorgio rear-drive platform, does that mean that this generation of Giulia will be the last fuel model of the rear-drive sedan?
Mr. Imparato: I try to answer your questions as accurately as possible. It is true that the Alpha Romeo brand will gradually join the big platform provided by Stellantis and adopt new platform technologies, so we will gradually transition from the current Giorgio back-end platform to the new platform. We are also one of the brands that have joined the new platform for the first time, but, here I would also like to emphasize that we will never give up the joy of driving, which is also a feature that our Alfa Romeo brand has always offered, which is one of the reasons I want to explain to you.
Our team that will develop Giulia models in the future is also the team developer of the GTA and GTAm we will sell in 2021, so we will always maintain the pedigree of the sports car, which is something we cherish very much. It is very important for the Alfa Romeo brand that we join the new platform while retaining a very good GTA and a great team of GTAm models. Our brand will always combine the two points just mentioned perfectly, and with Stellantis' very advanced technology and platform, we will also introduce the brand spirit that Alpha Romeo has always inherited, so that we will definitely deliver impressive models to the market.
To sum up, Alfa Romeo will never abandon the spirit of history and sports, while actively embracing the new technologies of the future and introducing new features to enhance the performance of our models. Thanks for your question, next question.
Question: I just heard you say a lot about Alfa Romeo's heritage of driving pleasure and handling, in the upcoming era of electrification, does Alfa Romeo have some existing ideas for the characteristics of the electrification era, including the characteristics of the motor, for the expression and embodiment of the car in the handling and driving pleasure? And in the era of electrification, will we consider setting up new factories in China or Asia? Because the whole industrial chain of electrification in Asia, including China, is now very complete, it may be helpful for all aspects of cost control.
Mr. Imparato: This is a very important and interesting question, but I may not be able to answer it here today. We know that Alfa Romeo's brand image in China is very good, and I understand very well the original intention of your question. But because we haven't made a final decision yet, we can't give you the answer today, but we take the Region of China very seriously and show great interest. I would also like to mention by the way, China is a very important country for our Alpha Romeo brand, and I also have great respect for China, china has a group of enthusiastic Alpha Romeo owners, I am very proud of them. At the same time, Mr. Zhou Guanyu, the first official F1 racer in Chinese history, has also joined our Alfa Romeo family, so I attach great importance to the Chinese market.
Then we will also make all kinds of decisions in the future, of course, this is also centered on our end customer owners, thank you for your question, the next question.
Question: I myself am actually an F1 fan for more than 20 years, so I am very happy to see Zhou Guanyu become the official driver of the Alfa Romeo F1 team, so how does Alfa Romeo combine the image of Zhou Guanyu as a driver to promote his brand, and will he take advantage of the opportunity to promote motorsport in China?
Mr. Imparato: I think my colleagues Kevin, Jeff and the Chinese sales team have already had an answer to this question, and I would like to say that Mr. Zhou Guanyu is undoubtedly a very important asset to our brand and is now a member of the Global Family of Alpha Romeo, a member of our core team, and we will work more closely with him. I think it's also the best way to help us promote F1, whether in China or elsewhere, Mr. Zhou Guanyu is undoubtedly a very valuable driver for us. He test-drove our car yesterday and after the test without any problems, I feel very happy about the result, it's a good start, I'm proud of that and I'm also very much looking forward to our next journey with Mr. Chow Guanyu.
Of course, the journey is never easy, but as a team, we can fight side by side to win. I think that by joining us in 2022, Mr. Bottas and Mr. Zhou Guanyu will definitely win better results and start a new chapter in this journey.
I feel very happy that as a brand with a 111-year history, I am very happy to have a very young driver in our big family who is 20 years old. We don't just get the job done, we enjoy it. We have very good team members who can also deliver happiness to the market, not just doing business. So I hope that everyone can also enjoy and love the Alfa Romeo brand, love the Italian spirit and competitive spirit, and at the same time better develop our brand.
Therefore, I will lead our team to achieve better results in the next journey, and we also want to share our happiness with everyone.
China's first F1 official driver Zhou Guanyu
Question: There was news that Alfa Romeo would not do a "big screen car machine", how do you think about the current car interior design and intelligent cockpit?
Mr. Imparato: That's a very good and interesting question. I'm sure you've probably seen my previous statements on other international occasions. As I said before, the Alfa Romeo brand is a brand that respects and loves history very much, and in our historical heritage, it has always been a brand that is driven-centric and very pursuit of driving pleasure. So that's why we've been providing car owners with enough [driving-related] information, and I think the information we've given them is also used to improve their driving efficiency.
For example, we have introduced AI artificial intelligence technology designed to provide our car owners with maximum information collection to enhance their driving pleasure. So we're going to focus our energy and investment on providing the owner with enough information instead of spending the cost on the big screen. That's where Alfa Romeo's brand stands, we have the DNA of racing and at the same time we're very owner-centric.
Mr. Zhou Guanyu does not drive a car with a big screen when driving F1, but he has enough information to help him improve his performance to the greatest extent. Although the F1 car does not have a big screen, Mr. Zhou can grasp enough information to steer the high-performance steering wheel. Thank you very much for your question, next question.
Question: The second question, for the upcoming Tonale model, will there be some novelty in driving control? Thank you.
Tonal
Mr. Imparato: On this new Tonale model, we use the new ADAS technology, the latest advanced automatic driver assistance system used in the car. Overall, it was the first electric car in the history of Alfa Romeo. During the electrification of Alfa Romeo, we provided excellent engine power, just as Stelvio and Giulia gave everyone a very good driving experience. So to sum up, the new Tonale model will fully respect the spirit of our brand, Alfa Romeo's unique brand philosophy, and at the same time, it will bring you a new future experience. Now I'm working with the team on brand planning for the next decade, which includes the electrification of our models, the software content of the vehicles, and of course we won't forget: always protect the owners of Alfa Romeo.
We want to protect the four foundations of Alfa Romeo's products: lightweighting, chassis (suspension) systems, steering systems and instrument combinations. At the same time, in the overall planning process in the future, there will be a lot of emphasis on electrification and new technologies, which is my product planning for the next few years. Thank you very much for your question, next question.
Question: Is there any news about my last question about the current revamp plans for Giulia and Stelvio products? Will the hybrid model be launched? And are there any plans for a new sports car?
Mr. Imparato: First of all my answer is yes. We at Alfa Romeo have our own plans for future product launches, which is to release a new car every year for the next five years, starting with the new Tonale model planned for 2022, and we will also release the first four flagship cars in 2024. We will also release a new car every year in 2025 and 2026, and by 2027, the Alfa Romeo brand will achieve 100% electrification of the luxury brand. Of course, we'll be ready for the future of the brand, whether it's Stelvio or Giulia and its four-leaf clover version.
Of course, we will always protect and respect the Italian heritage, while always maintaining a sense of sportiness and charm, because our Alfa Romeo brand will always be beautiful. Thank you very much for your question.
Mr. Imparato: We would like to conclude by saying that this is the roundtable interview today, and we would like to sincerely thank our media friends and wish you all the best on your journey, Alfa Romeo and Mr. Zhou Guanyu and all of you here can have a wonderful 2022, we deserve everything beautiful, thank you!