Next Alfa Romeo Giulia Set To Ditch Traditional Saloon Body

The Alfa Romeo Giulia is one of an increasingly small number of traditional three-box saloon cars still on the market in Europe 2025, but according to comments from Alfa’s boss, that’ll change when the next-generation car arrives.

Speaking to French publication L’Argus, recently-appointed Alfa CEO Santo Ficili said, in a comment translated from French, that the saloon’s successor will feature “a new type of bodywork.” He added that “Its platform will be the same as that of the [new] Stelvio. So you can imagine what kind of vehicle we are going to offer.”

That certainly suggests that the new car could adopt some crossover-inspired styling, but don’t necessarily expect it to be a full-on SUV in the same vein as the Stelvio, which is also soon due to be replaced. After all, the two outgoing cars share a platform, but have very distinct body styles. The move away from a traditional three-box design is a sad but likely necessary one for Alfa, as sales of old-fashioned saloons continue to slip worldwide.

One suggestion is that the new Giulia could be a fastback with a sloping rear, which could be paired with a slightly raised ride height to appease the more crossover-hungry car-buying public. Fellow Stellantis brand DS recently revealed a car like this, the strangely-named No8, which is soon to get a closely-related sibling in the shape of a reborn Lancia Gamma.

While the new Giulia could end up looking like those cars, though, it won’t share a platform with them: it, and the new Stelvio, will be based on the STLA Large platform that also underpins the new Dodge Charger. This chassis is designed to take both electric and combustion powertrains, and while they’ll likely debut as EVs, Ficili confirmed that “we are working on hybrid versions” of the new cars, which were originally planned to be EV-only.

Currently, the new Stelvio looks set for a debut at some point in 2025, followed by the Giulia next year and a larger, range-topping SUV in 2027. Ficili, however, ruled out the return of the Giulietta hatchback.

So, the new Giulia may well spell the end of the Alfa saloon, something that’s existed nearly non-stop since the introduction of the 1900 in 1950. What form do you want to see the next-gen car take? We’re hoping for a seven-seater people carrier. Not really.