Alfa Romeo’s new BMW 3-Series-fighting sedan, the Giulia, took only two and a half years to develop, the blink of an eye in auto manufacturing timelines.
According to Car, it was FCA head honcho Sergio Marchionne that appointed chief engineer Philippe Krief to head a skunkworks team of 10 specialists to get the job done. This gave Krief, who was working on Ferrari at the time, the freedom to execute a single vision without the too-many-cooks paralysis that often befalls big companies.
Krief recalls Marchionne’s phone call from April 2013. “You have to come and do the new Alfa, we have to do something totally different. So please take a bunch of guys, go somewhere and think about that. You have two years and two months!”
The sedan was originally on track to be a front-wheel-drive platform to succeed the Alfa 159. That project was scrapped entirely in order to develop a RWD sports sedan in record time. Not only that, but Krief, who had previously worked on the Ferrari 458 Speciale, promises there will be a hint of prancing horse in the Giulia’s driving dynamics.
Though the Giulia does utilize the Maserati Ghibli and Quattroporte platforms, the turnaround time was still extraordinarily quick. Typically, an automaker needs at minimum four years to develop a car.
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