It's no secret that Volkswagen has been loping around the edge of the Fiat herd, anxious to cut Alfa Romeo from the group for itself. But beyond the corporate angle, it seems Walter de'Silva, the man behind the gorgeous Audi A5/S5 among many others, is chomping at the bit to put the lines on a new Alfa.
It shouldn't be a surprise. De'Silva worked for Alfa for more than a decade, leading design on many of the marque's best-looking cars during his tenure as head of the Alfa Centro Stile.
The news comes from an interview with Automotive News on the floor of the Paris auto show. But the more interesting question is: what would de'Silva and VW do with Alfa?
Would they start at the top to make a new 8C-level car? Or would they go for a mass-market model to make the imprint early? Would the design be expressive and attractive enough to deserve the Alfa name? Or would Teutonic efficiency and platform sharing hammer Alfa into an unsuitable mold?
According to Giorgetto Giugaro, VW would be a safe home for Alfa, and perhaps Audi and Lamborghini are good examples of the VW Group's custodianship of image-centric brands. But there's always some doubt mixed with change.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
[Auto News -- sub. req.]
