Italian luxury car automaker Alfa Romeo is doing well in its home market, as expected. However, the brand has had difficulty translating that same success in the U.S. market. Comparing the 2020 and 2023 numbers reveals a worrying reality for the automaker. Alfa Romeo has been around for over a century, but recent statistics indicate it is sliding down a bleak path in America. Here’s a look at the declining Alfa Romeo sales figures.

Alfa Romeo sales in Q4 2020 vs Q2 2023

Alfa Romeo has always had difficulty appealing to the American market. According to GoodCarBadCar, the brand’s best year was 2018, when it sold 23,800 units. However, sales plunged to 18,294 in 2019, and for the next two years, the brand seemed to hit a stride of 18,000+ units.

That was until 2022 when the plunge began. Alfa Romeo sold 12,843 units in 2022, and with the recent statistics, it seems the brand will continue to experience a sales decline. In the second quarter of 2023, the brand reported the sale of 2,310 units. During the same period in 2022, Alfa Romeo reported sales of 3,084 units, indicating a decrease.

According to GoodCarBadCar, in 2020, Alfa closed the year with 6,092 units sold, which, while not an impressive figure, was still commendable given the supply chain issues and the pandemic. The Q4 2020 sales were three times as high back in Q4 2020 compared to Q2 2023, and the brand has been on a steady decline since then.

Vehicles in the U.S. Alfa Romeo lineup

Alfa Romeo left the North American market in 1995 and didn’t return until a decade later. The brand unveiled the Alfa Romeo Giulia in 2015 during its 105th anniversary. It was the first mass-market car from the automaker in over two decades.

The car boasts a gorgeous luxury design with a comfortable interior packed with top-of-the-line features. The Giulia sedan is available in five trims: Sprint, Ti, Lusso, Veloce, and Estrema. The base trim Sprint has a starting MSRP of $45,875, while the uppermost trim, the Estrema, costs $56,685.

The Stelvio compact luxury SUV was revealed in 2016 and is the automaker’s first production SUV that competes with other vehicles like the Mercedes-Benz GLC, BMW X3, and Audi Q5. The SUV comes in four trim levels: Sprint, Ti, Veloce, and Competizione. The base trim, Sprint, has a starting MSRP of $46,370, while the elite trim, Competizione, costs $57,920.

The Alfa Romeo Tonale is a crossover SUV and is the automaker’s first hybrid-powered vehicle. In August 2022, Dodge, another sub-brand under Stellantis, unveiled a restyled version of the car exclusive to North American markets and under the name Dodge Hornet.

The Tonale comes in three trims: Sprint, Ti, and Veloce. The base trim has a starting MSRP of $44,590, while the upper trim level costs significantly lower than the other models in the lineup, coming in at $49,090.

Alfa Romeo sales indicate a struggle to keep up with other luxury brands

The recent statistics suggest that Alfa Romeo sales are struggling to keep up with its luxury competitors like Mercedes-Benz and BMW, and there may be various reasons why. For starters, automakers like Mercedes and BMW have a diverse and well-rounded vehicle lineup that helps them attract a wide range of customers, unlike Alfa’s lackluster North American lineup.

Additionally, luxury customers typically expect high quality and reliability to justify their high price. For the prices Alfa Romeo charges, customers may be better off getting vehicles from other luxury brands for the same prices or even lower.

Alfa isn’t necessarily known for its reliability, with various consumer sites complaining about reliability issues. The automaker has also been slow in the electrification race. While other luxury brands already have an EV lineup, Alfa is still toying with the idea for its 2025 Giulia model. If the Italian automaker wants to stop the slide and see any sales improvement over the next year, it’s going to need to do something drastic. Introducing a high-quality EV might be the answer.