To name the 147 replacement, Alfa Romeo staged an international online poll in which the winner came out to be Furiosa. In our opinion this was a real and true example of democracy, and good marketing.
However, over the weekend various websites reported that Alfa Romeo will not use the Furiosa name mostly because they believe it's not matching the image they want for themselves. No official information on the matter has been released yet.
Having in mind the way the Furiosa name surfaced (voted by the people who are really interested and in the market for the car) we have our doubts about Alfa not using it.
If the Furiosa name is the result of a legitimate vote we think that not using it would just be a not very good marketing decision.
On the other hand, if you put a new and original product on the market you don't want it to be related to anything else... and when you think of a certain fast and furious movie, you might just look away from democracy for a moment.
The new Alfa Romeo is scheduled to be unveiled at the next Geneva auto show and by then it has to have a name...or just simply be called the Alfa Romeo (no name). That would be a first!
