The Italian marque has been lumbering along for a while now with very few, low-volume models, but its revitalized lineup will feature new body styles aimed at steering German luxury car buyers toward its passion purchases.
The mass production charge will reportedly be led by two crossovers (which will be a vehicle segment the automaker has never touched). Both high-riders will be based on the new Giulia sedan and will be built in Alfa’s Mirafiori plant. The planned models will be a premium crossover and a smaller, more affordable one.
Alfa Romeo will initially sell both in Europe next to Jeep-badged vehicles. It’s unclear if the brand will ship one or both crossovers to the U.S., but based on how rapidly Americans are snapping up SUVs of all shapes and sizes, it would make sense.
Fiat-owned Alfa models of late have maintained the style-first characteristics of their ancestors, but expect the sumptuous lines to be dulled a bit with these upcoming crossovers. What will be more interesting is how the Alfa crossovers rival the Germans in terms of performance.
There will no doubt be high-performance iterations of each to match BMW’s upcoming X3 M and current X5 M. We may even see the new Giulia Quadrifoglio’s 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 — rated at 510 horsepower — nestle its way under one or both crossovers’ hoods.
In other Alfa news, FCA is reportedly considering a return for Alfa Romeo to motorsport. That could be brought to reality by reviving the Alfa Corse factory racing team.
