Alfa Romeo Will Have 9 New Cars By 2021 And It's Going To Be Awesome
I’ll never forget walking over to Alfa Romeo’s stand at the Goodwood Festival of Speed a few years ago, presented by the sorry sight of just two new cars populating it. Yep, up until very recently the entire Alfa Romeo range consisted of the iffy MiTo and Giulietta hatchbacks, and nothing else. It’s not much bigger now, but by 2021, the Alfa stable will be vastly different.
Having already provided a proper, 3-series-rivaling rear-wheel drive saloon in the form of the Giulia, Alfa will launch “up to nine” new cars in the next five years, reports Autocar. This prospect is on the horizon despite the Giulia’s own launch being delayed by around two years.
Speaking to Autocar, Alfa boss Reid Bigland said: “Our goal is absolutely to go toe to toe with the Germans, but that’s not a two-year plan…We’re just not going to get there that quickly. They’re in every segment and spinning derivatives off those segments.”
So, how exactly will Alfa go toe-to-toe with the Germans? SUVs are a big part of the answer. As Bigland points out: “Even with the new [Stelvio] SUV, we will only have 50 per cent coverage of the market,” so that means two additional SUVs, probably starting with a larger one to target the Audi Q7 and BMW X5.
But if you’re SUV-phobic, don’t worry: for starters, Bigland is promising that people will be “blown away by the driving dynamics” of the SUVs, and most importantly, there are plenty of non-SUV items on the menu.
The next Alfa Romeo to be launched after Stelvio is expected to be a Giulia ‘Sportwagon’ estate, which we’re rather hoping includes a hot Quadrifoglio version. A BMW 5-series rival could happen, but the high cost of adapting the Giulia’s Giorgio platform is apparently a stumbling block, particularly given that saloon sales have tanked in recent years.
A sports car is part of the plan - think a Brera successor that isn’t an overweight, underpowered, shabby handling turd - and there’ll be a VW Golf-battling Giulietta replacement too. There is still talk of that car being rear-wheel drive since the Giorgio platform can apparently work in a smaller configuration, but there’s still a question mark over what will underpin the car.
Which of Alfa’s incoming new arrivals are you most looking forward to?
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
Clarkson approves.
What episode?
Thank you sir.
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Clarkson is like
Sexy cars are back !
Need that wagon in my life
Recently Alfa has been just like Lotus. We are going to release 100 new models in the next 5 years, and then………
I think McLaren said they’d release something like 22 new models in the next 5 years. I doubt that even if they count sub-models (like 570S and 570GT) as separate.
I think I would sell a kidney for a Giulia Sportwagon Quadrifoglio. And if it comes with flappy paddle gearbox then I’ll sell my left leg too!
I’d probably sell all three of my legs if it came with a good sized turbo v6 or v8
Save the Leg. Don’t you want to Left Foot Brake?
I’d like to see a sports car from Alfa, coupe or otherwise, that can also be someone’s only car. Don’t get me wrong, the 4C is stunning and I’m sure an absolute joy to drive. But on a rainy Monday stuck in traffic, with no power steering, no ac and no storage it’s less practical than my MX5…
You choose vw with your logics, but you choose allfa with your heart
I’d like something I can fit comfortably in please. It would be nice to not hit my head on the roof.
No, no they won’t.
They’ve been saying things like this ever since the 159 went out of production in 2011.
Forgive me for being a little skeptical on this..
I used to think the same - there seemed to be a story like this every damn month for a while. But the difference now is they have the Giorgio platform, which was always going to underpin more than just the Giulia and the Stelvio.
A Giulia Sportwagon Quadrifoglio (kinda mouthful to say it though) and a RWD Giulietta replacement would be nice. A bit sad if a 5-series rival didn’t because I love my dad’s 164 and I would like to see it’s successor after the 166. A modern high-end Alfa that could focus on comfort and luxury.
and I hope that sports car used the Sprint nameplate.