Stellantis, Tavares: “Alfa and Lancia will return to motorsport”

L’Alfa Romeo and Lancia they will return to the racing world. The word of Carlos Tavares. Executive Director of Stellantis groupanswering a direct question from Quattroruote, confirmed during the round table held in Misano during the Italian conference of System E that the group is evaluating the right time for the two manufacturers to enter the world of motor sports. The “when” has yet to be decided, therefore, but the future – on the curbs or on the motorways – is already planned.

“Alpha will return.” “It is clear – says the number one of Stellantis – that at some point Alfa Romeo will return to motorsport, because it is part of the DNA of the brand, it is part of its history. And we feel we have a responsibility to keep the value of the brand alive in discussions about this that are already underway between Jean-Marc Finot and Jean-Philippe Learned, the decision will most likely not be made before the end of the year yet the type of participation we will have, because it has not yet been decided.” So we will have to wait a few more months before we understand which championship we will see Biscione return to: there are many options on the table, from Formulae E to Wec or, why, the return of style to Formula 1 or covered. wheel championship. What is certain, however, is that Stellantis will have to find the right moment to bring Alfa back to the brink: “But there are many things – continues Tavares – that I can share with you. One is the fact that in all. motorsport disciplines the cycle is always the same. It starts in a way, it explodes and then drops again when we enter this cycle, obviously it is very important for what we do to enter the decline of interest, because we will find ourselves alone without competitors. The best is to enter when the cost is good and then grow with discipline , to be more competitive where the return on investment from a marketing perspective is acceptable. And that’s what we’re trying to do so it’s a very strategic thing to define or determine when we’re going into this cycle and the volatility that we all know. So yeah, Alfa he will come back. But I don’t know where or when yet.”

Lancia: passion and love. Then the Portuguese manager continued his speech by also talking about the Lancia brand, whose rebirth has begun with The new Ypsilon and which has at least two other models in front of it, the flagship Gamma and the C-section Delta, both should have the sports version of the HF Integrale. “Lancia too – says Tavares, continuing Information by Luca Napolitano – he deserves to return to motorsport, rally or no rally. We will see. But one of the things we need to understand is that motorsports only exists as a marketing tool for the car industry, as we all know. So we have to do things in the right sequence. Now we are reviving, updating the brand. This is the center. Because if we can’t make a profit, obviously there will be no money to pay for motorsport. But if the business grows, if we succeed, if people like the new Ypsilon, if people like the cars that come after it, the business will grow and, of course, it will be in our interest to maintain the value of the brand. and make it grow. Lancia is a very good brand.” Tavares then returned to Alfa Romeo, taking it as an example for Lancia’s future in competition: “Now the brand is profitable, we are doing the right things in the right way, the quality is improving like hell. And we hope to do the same thing with Lancia. And if that happens, then it will be to our benefit, not only as motorsport fans, but also as business people, to strengthen the brand value even more. So the answer is yes, there is a chance for it. And there is passion and willingness to do it, as long as there is a company behind it to support it.”