Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe axed, Spider to live on

Alfa Romeo's 4C Coupe, the lightweight sports car that heralded the brand’s renaissance back in 2013, has been officially axed from the lineup, according to international reports.

The news shouldn’t be overly surprising. When company bosses outlined Alfa Romeo’s five-year plan in Italy earlier this month, the plucky 4C didn’t rate a mention. Instead, executives outlined plans to introduce a new Ferrari-baiting 8C supercar and a 450kW GTV sports car between now and 2023, but with no talk of a new 4C.

But FCA boss Sergio Marchionne himself provided perhaps the most pointed clue that trouble was on the horizon, telling the assembled media that the 4C had a “limited future”.

“The 4C has technical limitations in terms of…approval outside the US and Europe, so it has a limited future,” he said.

But it would appear the end has come a little sooner than expected. Reports out of the USA this morning claim FCA has confirmed the Coupe's axing. In happier news for Alfa fans, the 4C Spider (convertible) variant will apparently live on for now, with a mid-life update due in 2019 to help plug the gap before the brand's newer performance cars arrive.

Powered by a turbocharged 1.75-litre petrol engine good for a comparatively tiny (in performance car terms) 177kW and 350Nm, it was the 4C Coupe’s feather-light kerb weight that allowed for its 4.5-second sprint to 100km/h. A carbon-fibre monocoque and stripped-bare interior helped the 4C Coupe tip the scales at around 1025kg in Australia.

FCA Australia declined to comment on the reports.

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