Alfa Romeo looks to Reenter US Market with an SUV

We guess there are some of us who think that the time of the SUV is gone. But there are vehicle makers worldwide who don’t necessarily think so.

The Fiat Group, which includes Alfa Romeo, wants to make a splash in the U.S. market. One way it thinks it can be successful is to introduce a new SUV to U.S. drivers.

Recently, Fiat showed off an SUV concept called the Kamal in 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show. But development of the vehicle for production was slowed until it became clear that Alfa Romeo would be re-introduced into North America. Now the top exec at thinks in order to get re-acquainted with Americans it must offer us an SUV.

It is believed that the production model will follow in appearance and features the concept shown in Geneva. Three and five door models may be released and, because of the platform the vehicle will be using, it is said that the engine will be a four cylinder and six cylinder. There may also be a five cylinder turbodiesel.

Foreign car makers seem to still be relying on the SUV in the U.S. market. Other European car makers planning to offer SUVs here other than Alfa include Mercedes-Benz (the GLK), Audi (the Q5), Volkswagen (the Tiguan), and BMW (the X3).

Our take? Smart or not smart?