Italy wins again! Alfa Romeo dodges the ax as refreshed Stelvio arrives ahead of new model blitz - including rivals Tesla Model 3 and Lexus UX Hybrid, and more

Are the 21 Alfa Romeo Stelvio's many small improvements enough to make it shortlisted for luxury midsize SUV buyers?

Alfa Romeo has reaffirmed its commitment to producing right-hand drive vehicles around the world and a permanent presence in Australia, in particular, showing that the brand's support in this market stretches to the very top.

Speaking in Melbourne this week, Andre Scott, head of Alfa Romeo and Fiat Australia, assured the press that the brand's global head Jean-Philippe Imparato (JPI) had told him bluntly that he was "100 percent" behind Australia. » ways.

“We needed to answer this question (to stay in Australia long term) for our network,” he acknowledged. 

“So when we went to our virtual dealer meeting in April of this year, we were able to tell them with confidence that Alfa is here to stay in Australia.”

Mr. Scott added that Australia's importance is underscored by being one of the world's key RHD markets and, surprisingly, having a say in shaping future models, many of which are in development.    

“Alpha is part of the global classroom,” he said. “(JPI) is committed to the RHD market with us, and we are a major part of this training class – product discussions, development – ​​and so so far we have seen nothing but evidence (full support).

"I can talk about what we're working on for the long term and RHD is part of that discussion... it's not a matter of how we get to be part of that (the program as an RHD market)."

Another factor helping to secure Alfa Romeo's long-term future is its integration into the Stellantis network, which brings together the former Groupe PSA brands Peugeot, Citroen, DS, Opel and Vauxhall with the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles brands of Italy's Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and Abarth and Chrysler, Dodge, RAM and Jeep from USA.

“For us, this is a great part of the merger with Stellantis,” Mr. Scott explained. 

“Alfa has a commitment to being a premium brand for the product portfolio as a whole. Part of this was a 10 year investment commitment and this was released as a public statement.

"And more importantly, Australia has been reported as part of that."

Alfa Romeo says local deliveries of the 21st model year Stelvio will finally begin in large volumes in the second half of 2021, after a decision was made some time ago to stop importing 19th and 20th model year stocks from Italy due to behind initially slow demand and oversupply the first wave of MY18 cars.

“We needed to move the shares,” Scott said.

As we reported last month, to make the latest Stelvio more attractive to potential buyers, the price of the MY3000 upgrade has been reduced by almost $21. Rivals Porsche Macan, BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC and Audi Q5 also benefited from the introduction of more sophisticated semi-autonomous driver assistance technology, an upgraded multimedia system, improved interior materials and additional standard features.

These developments were also applied last year to the Stelvio luxury sports sedan that competes with the BMW 3 Series Giulia.

The Alfa Romeo Giulia played an important role when it recently introduced its first big update.

Prices for the Stelvio start at $64,950 excluding travel expenses for the base trim (special order only), up to $69,950 for the Sport, $78,950 for the Veloce (anticipated bestseller), and $146,950 for the top-end Quadrifoglio.

As the diesel is now being phased out in Australia, the lower two grades are powered by a 148-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with 330kW/2.0Nm, with the Veloce upped to 206kW/400Nm and a 375-litre twin-cylinder with 600kW/2.9Nm. 6 Nm -Turbo VXNUMX supports Quadrifoglio. All send their drive to all four wheels via a ZF-supplied eight-speed automatic torque converter.

Both Stelvio and Giulia use Giorgio's premium longitudinal engine architecture with rear/all wheel drive.

However, reports from Europe suggest this will eventually be phased out for the all-electric skateboard architecture Stellaantis is developing under the name STLA for use in most of its brands in the coming years.

The focus will be on the all-electric four-door luxury GT, which is said to wear the famous GTV badge to compete with the Tesla Model 3 and BMW i4 EVs.

However, petrol and petrol-electric hybrid powertrains will continue to be used front and center in Alfas, including the heavily delayed Tonale small SUV scheduled for 2022, as well as Giulia and Stelvio replacements in the coming years. Rumor has it that a smaller crossover will appear in the middle of the decade, which could be related to the 2008 Peugeot.

With all this development, it's clear that Stellantis has abandoned the Italian brand Lifebuoy as its progressive flagship EV-focused sports luxury brand.

The JPI global boss plans to publicly lay out Alfa Romeo's plans at a special media event scheduled around August or September, so stay tuned for more information as soon as it becomes available.