That appears to be what VW has in mind for Alfa Romeo. That is, if Fiat is willing to hand over the keys -- and it seems that it is not. On word that VW was licking its chops, Fiat executives quickly made it clear that the company would never sell to the German Goliath.

Alfa Romeo has never exactly been the crown jewel of the Fiat fleet. With heavy hitters such as Audi and BMW snapping up luxury market share left and right, Alfa was left to play alone in the corner for years. Recently, though, Fiat has invested serious time, effort and money into making the brand fit to take on those pillars of comfortable cruising. We’re beginning to see the fruits of those efforts with the likes of the MiTo, 8C and 8C Spider, which may be why Fiat is so adamant about keeping Volkswagen at bay.

For those of us here in America, the stakes are somewhat higher than simply who owns whom. Fiat has made plenty of noise about wanting to bring Alfa Romeo to the U.S. in order to enter the luxury fight on our shores. Were VW to take the reins, we could kiss those plans goodbye as the Italian brand would be locking horns with none other than Audi -- another of Volkswagen’s ever-expanding brood. Here’s hoping Fiat can fend off Volkswagen, if for no other reason than to protect and serve our love of Italian hatchbacks, and the hope that more of them are soon to hit our shores.