New Alfa Romeo Tonale to be measured on quality not sales figures, brand says

Alfa Romeo claims quality is its number-one priority for the new Tonale – rather than sales or profits – as it looks to bust stigmas of poor build quality and reliability that have followed previous-generation Alfa Romeos.

Alfa Romeo global product boss Daniel Tiago Guzzafame told Australian media earlier this month the company acknowledges it has much room for improvement in the quality of its vehicles.

This is something the company claims it aims to resolve with its first new car in six years, the Tonale small SUV, due in Australia in February 2023.

“For Tonale, and I know it might sound a little strange, but the measure of success is quality,” Mr Guzzafame said.

“We need that much more than the sales to be consistent and credible in the switch to electric vehicles,” referencing Alfa's planned switch to sell electric cars only by 2027.

Previous-generation Alfa Romeo vehicles have borne the brunt of perceived quality issues – something the brand is more than willing to acknowledge and fix as it moves towards electric cars.

“You can get a number of sales, but without quality you will not be credible for the next model,” Guzzafame said. “So we need to build up on that. Alfa Romeo has been very bad on quality for a number of years.

“In terms of public perception, how long that process takes to change, it will depend on how long it takes for us to get to the top of the surveys. If you get to the top of the public surveys, and as a consequence the media starts to speak about that, then the shift can happen as quickly as a few years.

“Of course if you are improving but not being at the top, it takes much longer,” he said. “The main challenges we have now, on sales we are almost on track everywhere, on the product we are on the good side, on after sales we need to improve.”

Alfa Romeo said it will put as much emphasis as it can on the after-sales (servicing and ownership) experience, where it believes it can capitalise on word of mouth and the support of owners after they have purchased an Alfa Romeo.

“Where we are now putting most of our energies, is on that, because it covers the majority of the people who are in contact with Alfa Romeo. Much more in order of magnitude than you can get with a new car like Tonale.”

“Because before getting the new Tonale, people are experiencing our hearing what people are experiencing with their current car or previous car.

“So, Tonale’s first KPI [key performance indicator] is that, quality. The second KPI is profit per car, for us it needs to be where we are today, and then third is of course market share.”