Tinley Park, Chicago dealers picked to sell Alfa Romeo

STAFF and WIRE REPORTS

A Tinley Park car dealer and a Chicago dealer will be among the first to sell Alfa Romeo sports cars when the Italian car brand returns to North America this summer.

Bettenhausen Fiat of Tinley Park and Fiat of Chicago were among the 82 U.S. Alfa dealers and four Canadian ones announced Tuesday by Fiat and Chrysler. The dealers already sell Fiat and Maserati cars in 33 states and three Canadian provinces. The companies also picked a Fiat dealer in downstate Fairview Heights and in Fort Wayne and Evansville, Indiana.

California will have most Alfa dealers, with 12. Seventeen states have one dealer each, including New York and Georgia.

Alfa is returning to North America after a 20-year absence. The first car on sale here will be the 4C sports coupe.

Alfa expects to sell around 800 cars in North America this year and up to 1,300 next year.

More dealers will be announced later this year. Fiat and Chrysler eventually plan to have 300 Alfa dealers in North America.

Contributing: The Associated Press