Alfa Romeo slowly pulls the plug on Giulietta

Production of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatch, which has just been updated in Australia, has been slashed from 70 cars a day to just 40 and the unloved Volkswagen Golf rival will likely be killed off in April.

There are no current plans to replace the small Alfa Romeo, whose sales have never approached its targets, and the C-segment car market segment itself is under unprecedented pressure from compact SUVs.

Parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) has already announced a cut in investment and resources for Alfa Romeo on the back of its continued underperformance, and the brand’s future depends on the success of the new Tonale SUV and a smaller B-sized SUV due in 2022.

Although it declined to confirm this to carsales, by the middle of this year the brand built on sports performance and style will offer just the Giulia and two SUVs (the Stelvio and Tonale).

The Giulietta’s place on the production line at Cassino will be taken over by Maserati’s upcoming mid-size SUV, with sources also saying the sub-Levante model will arrive towards the end of the year.

While the Cassino plant also produces the Stelvio and Giulia, FCA continues to pursue job cuts and redundancies at the factory near Napoli.

Details have yet to be confirmed about the future of the Cassino plant following the FCA merger with France’s PSA Group (the parent company of Peugeot, Citroen, Opel and DS).

Demand for Alfa Romeo’s range plummeted in January from an already-low base (the brand was outsold by the eight-year-old, Italy-only Lancia Ypsilon last year).

The European small-car segment lost 100,000 cars, or five per cent of its market, selling 2.65 million cars in 2019.

Assuming Alfa Romeo demand justifies its continued existence, all of its future products are likely to be switched to PSA platforms, rather than soldiering on as orphans within the combined group.

But the Giulietta’s future as a C-segment competitor remains uncertain and it may never be replaced. PSA is already replete with mainstream small cars courtesy of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel.