Image courtesy of Fiat Group's World

FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne will be retiring soon and it seems like more than just he CEO position is being reshuffled. Previously, the Alfa Romeo brand was headed by Reid Bigland and he has done an exceptional job with the Giulia and Stelvio’s release, but he’s looking to focus more on North America and someone else will need to take his place. That’s where Tim Kuniskis comes in.

Kuniskis was recently named Head of Alfa Romeo and Maserati brands globally and he has the experience to take on this mantel. Having worked in FCA for 26 years, Kuniskis has gained plenty of experience by serving as the Head of Passenger Car Brands in North America including Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat and SRT. Unfortunately, this shift may not necessarily affect the Alfetta’s delay.

"As Reid has established the commercial foundation for Alfa and Maserati, today's announcement allows Tim to dedicate his efforts solely on the next chapter of these storied brands. In North America, with the execution of our industrial plan now well underway, shifting from cars to SUV's and trucks, Reid's complete attention will be placed on accelerating sales growth in the U.S. and Canada", said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne.

With North America being FCA’s most profitable market, we can only assume that Kuniskis will try to cater to what those customers want, which seems to be SUVs and pickups instead of a large sedan.

Maybe this will mean that projects like a new 4C and even a return of the 8C could happen sooner than we thought. But the 8C might be more of a wait, I think that will correlate with FCA's new SRT Viper.

Let's hope this change in leadership doesn't mean other segments in the Alfa Romeo line will be left to the side. SUVs are still as popular as ever and Kuniskis may want to turn as much of a profit as possible during his tenure. That means large sedans like the Alfetta could be put to the side for a while.

I think Alfa needs to be careful in ensuring they don't overextend themselves, by trying to produce too many different models at the same time. I think they should put focus into what's selling such as the Stelvio and Giulia and come back to other models such as the Alfetta, once they have established a proven platform and consumer base.

That's the more logical trajectory for Alfa Romeo and they're more likely to produce additional SUV and crossovers to tap into that growing segment. Though it does make sense, the delay is still a let down for those of us who are waiting for the Alfetta. Hopefully Tim Kuniskis will shine some light on the brand's future offerings because Alfa Romoe's product release timeline is unclear at this point.

Being part of FCA they don't to worry nearly as much about that because the amount of platforms they can pull from and the partnerships they can make elsewhere gives them a major advantage. If Alfa was all on their own it would be a different story.