Automaking conglomerate Stellantis did not have a good 2024. A focus on short-term profiteering saw it amass record profits in 2023, but as the car market corrected itself after post-pandemic supply shortages, buyers turned away from its brands. Its CEO Carlos Tavares left his post in December 2024, but not before Stellantis had seen record levels of inventory pile up in America. One particularly problematic model for the brand is the Alfa Romeo Giulia, which was launched back in 2017.
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The Italian sports sedan was never likely to be a sales smash hit, but evidently Stellantis thought it could sell many more of them than it turned out to be able to. Part of its slow sales can perhaps be blamed on the overall decline in popularity for sedans, but then again, that decline is far from a new trend. In fact, most major carmakers have been reducing or ditching their sedan lineups for years already, in line with the decreasing buyer pool.
Clearly, there are other factors involved in the 285-day supply backlog of the model. Perhaps it’s that the Giulia has been beset with reliability issues since its launch, but again, this isn’t a new problem. Maybe it’s simply because the Giulia’s ever-evolving competition has proved too tempting for potential buyers to resist. Either way, Alfa Romeo will need to find a way to turn things around over the coming year.
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