Alfa Romeo is back in Peterborough after an absence of eight years. 

Donalds has been granted the new franchise, which fills a space next to its Mazda showroom vacated after it terminated the Subaru franchise.

The dealer group expects to do well with Alfa Romeo in a city that has one of the largest Italian communities of any area in the UK, despite the brand’s long absence.

“If you have petrol in your blood, then Alfa Romeo means something to you,” said Donalds managing director Danny Stone. 

“Cars aren’t what they were a few years ago; the industry has become a bit mundane, but these cars are anything but mundane. It’s the right brand at the right time.”

Donalds becomes the 10th new Alfa Romeo dealer to open this year, putting the network at 48. The manufacturer is confident of reaching its target of 55 dealerships by the end of the year. 

All the new sites have had an identical opening night, featuring celebrated Italian chef Aldo Zilli. Donalds attracted 160 potential customers to its event.

Stone expects to sell 100 new cars in the first year “but only at the right price”. So far, the GT has been the top seller followed by the 159 and the 147.

He is not setting used car targets because that part of the business will be a learning curve for the next few months; Donalds has just seven used Alfas on its website.

“With the amount of money coming off used values, we don’t want loads of stock at the moment,” 

Stone said. “Our priorities have been new cars and aftersales . We are now happy with both so we will start to build up our used business.”