‘Very powerful' Alfa Romeo special editions coming with Prada input
Alfa Romeo has announced a partnership that its boss says will spawn a series of lighter and 'more powerful' special-edition Quadrifoglio model variants, with the first to be unveiled in early 2026.
The unique road cars will come from Alfa Romeo's new technology sharing partnership with Luna Rossa, an Italian challenger for the 38th America's Cup yacht race that's set to take place in Naples, Italy, in 2027.
The America's Cup – won by Australia II in 1983 – sees high-tech vessels vie for line honours on the water, in a competition as technically challenging as Formula 1.
When asked about whether the technical tie-up between the Italian automaker and Luna Rossa will extend to special-edition road cars, Alfa Romeo CEO Santo Ficili was emphatic that it would.
Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
'Yes – the answer is absolutely yes, and there is a lot of excitement about this, because we are working as two teams,' Mr Ficili said during a media call attended by CarExpert.
'The partnership is going to start now, and I believe in the next six to eight months we are going to be really working together – we have started already.
'I believe that Q1 2026 {the first quarter of next year] we would like to start with something we have in our mind – very limited, very powerful – and then we would like to continue.'
The Alfa boss added that the special editions will peak – or 'apex', as he called it – around the time of the 2027 America's Cup, which is scheduled to take place between March and August of that year in Naples, where the Alfa Romeo Tonale small SUV is made. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
He also said the Quadrifoglio name will still hold its place as the halo model grade of the Italian brand's performance vehicle lineup.
'The first thing we are trying to work out together [on] is starting from the Quadrifoglio, which is our top performance brand, to find something that embeds the research of materials that we are doing together,' he said.
'Of course, it has to be something embedded into the Quadrifoglio brand – so it's going to be basically something around Quadrifoglio.'
Alfa Romeo currently offers Quadrifoglio versions of its Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV, which are both at the end of their lifecycles and will be replaced some time next year by hybrid and electric successors.
Alfa Romeo's global marketing boss, Cristiano Fiorio, has essentially confirmed ongoing petrol power for the brand after it cancelled plans to go all-electric by 2027. Supplied Credit: CarExpert
'Personally, I do not see a Quadrifoglio EV,' Fiorio said to British publication Autocar earlier this year.
And it seems the special editions won't wait for Alfa Romeo's next-generation models, which are due to be outlined when the automaker announces its new strategic plan on June 23.
'The current range – we have to consider Junior [a new small hybrid and electric SUV due in Australia later in 2025], Tonale, Giulia and Stelvio,' said Mr Ficili.
'So, we will start from these four fantastic models we have today in our range, then we will see also in the future, but there is already space to work with the current range of Alfa Romeo.' Supplied Credit: CarExpert
The centenary of the iconic Italian Mille Miglia – which means 1000 miles – road race will also take place in 2027, and the Luna Rossa team is set to race an Alfa Romeo 1900 SS in this year's historic running for pre-1957 cars.
Driving the car during the June 17-21 event will be Italian rally driver – and head of corporate responsibility at fashion brand Prada – Lorenzo Bertelli.
'We are working with the team Luna Rossa and with Lorenzo in order to put all the know-how, the expertise of the design, the speed, the light materials into also some limited-edition cars,' said Mr Ficili.
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BYD Australia confirmed the 130kW/290Nm version will be standard here, and available in both 'Essential' and 'Premium' trim grades when it arrives Down Under. The Australian-spec Atto 2 will also have a 51.13kWh Lithium Ion Phosphate (LFP) 'Blade' battery and, while no driving range has been confirmed, it's larger than the 32kWh and 45.1kWh battery capacities available overseas, which enable a WLTP range of 312km. BYD Australia has confirmed few other specs, but the Atto 2 will have flush door-handles and a panoramic sunroof as standard, outside a cabin including synthetic leather seat trim and 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster. Essential versions will feature a 10.1-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen, while the Premium grade will gain a 12.8-inch screen and a 360-degree surround camera. BYD has ambitious expansion plans, including a goal of exports accounting for half its global sales by 2030, which would be a significant achievement given the brand is not present in the US, the world's second largest auto market behind China. The brand was officially launched in Australia in 2022 under EVDirect, whose chief told CarExpert as recently as January this year that BYD plans to outsell long-time local market leader Toyota by 2027. EVDirect previously said BYD had ambitious plans to sell 100,000 vehicles per annum in Australia by 2026, by doubling its sales and launching up to five new models annually. Last year BYD sold 20,458 vehicles in Australia, where Toyota sold 241,296. MORE: Everything BYD Content originally sourced from: The 2025 BYD Atto 2 has been confirmed for Australian showrooms, where smallest and most affordable electric SUV offered here by the Chinese automaker so far will arrive in the fourth quarter of this year. BYD Australia – which will take over local distribution of the brand from independent importer EVDirect next month – has announced the compact five-seat Atto 2 electric SUV will be offered here with a single electric powertrain and two model grades. Launched in China in March 2024, the BYD Atto 2 is sold under other names overseas, including Atto 3 Up, Yuan Pro and S1 Pro. Hundreds of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now. It will be sold in Australia as the Atto 2 to underline its positioning, in terms of both size and price, below the brand's pioneering Atto 3 electric SUV with which it shares its platform, and will be aimed at rivals including the Kia EV3 and Hyundai Kona Electric. "As an SUV, the Atto 2 is very important," Sajid Hasan, BYD Australia senior product planning manager, told CarExpert. "What we've seen is that there's been a shifting of passenger cars to SUVs. What the hatch segment used to be has flowed into the small SUV segment, and then you got a lot of cross-pollination between the medium SUV segment and light SUV segments." SUVs have accounted for 59.8 per cent of all new vehicle sales so far this year in Australia – not including Tesla and Polestar sales, which are reported separately. Led by the Hyundai Kona, the small SUV segment the Atto 2 will enter for BYD made up the third-largest chunk (6.4 per cent) of the new vehicle market, behind mid-size SUVs and just a few sales behind 4×4 utes. "This small SUV segment being a very large portion of the total market composition, volume-wise, is just an enormous growth opportunity for us to grow our brand and our volume," Mr Hasan said. While pricing is yet to be confirmed, the Atto 2 should be cheaper than the mid-size Atto 3, which starts from $39,990 before on-road costs – making it considerably more affordable than the new Kia EV3's $48,990 starting price. The Hyundai Kona Electric is priced from $54,000 before on-road costs. In China, the Atto 2 starts at ¥96,800 (A$20,835), which is less than the BYD Dolphin hatchback (¥99,800 or A$21,480) that's currently priced from $29,990 drive-away in Australia. Based on its specs in China – where it is called the BYD Yuan Up – the Atto 2 measures 4310mm long, 1830mm wide and 1675mm high, making it 145mm shorter than the Atto 3. However, it's larger than light SUVs such as the Mazda CX-3 and Nissan Qashqai – and the electric Jeep Avenger – but not as big as Australia's most popular SUVs, like the mid-size Toyota RAV4 and Mazda CX-5. Indeed, the Atto 2 has a 400-litre boot, which expands to 1370L of space with the second row folded. In China, the Atto 2 is offered with a single electric motor mounted to the front axle, with the choice of 70kW and 130kW power outputs. BYD Australia confirmed the 130kW/290Nm version will be standard here, and available in both 'Essential' and 'Premium' trim grades when it arrives Down Under. The Australian-spec Atto 2 will also have a 51.13kWh Lithium Ion Phosphate (LFP) 'Blade' battery and, while no driving range has been confirmed, it's larger than the 32kWh and 45.1kWh battery capacities available overseas, which enable a WLTP range of 312km. BYD Australia has confirmed few other specs, but the Atto 2 will have flush door-handles and a panoramic sunroof as standard, outside a cabin including synthetic leather seat trim and 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster. Essential versions will feature a 10.1-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen, while the Premium grade will gain a 12.8-inch screen and a 360-degree surround camera. BYD has ambitious expansion plans, including a goal of exports accounting for half its global sales by 2030, which would be a significant achievement given the brand is not present in the US, the world's second largest auto market behind China. The brand was officially launched in Australia in 2022 under EVDirect, whose chief told CarExpert as recently as January this year that BYD plans to outsell long-time local market leader Toyota by 2027. EVDirect previously said BYD had ambitious plans to sell 100,000 vehicles per annum in Australia by 2026, by doubling its sales and launching up to five new models annually. Last year BYD sold 20,458 vehicles in Australia, where Toyota sold 241,296. MORE: Everything BYD Content originally sourced from:
