Latest news with #Fiorio
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
It's Your Fault Alfa Romeo Doesn't Build Cool Sports Cars Anymore
If you picture an Alfa Romeo in your mind, what kind of car pops into your head? If you're anything like me, it's probably something small, with no roof and slick, sporty stylings. If you look at the cars that Alfa actually sells in America right now, though, the reality isn't much like that at all. This, it turns out, is actually all your fault. The 2025 Alfa Romeo lineup here in the U.S. includes the Giulia sedan and two SUVs: the Stelvio and the Tonale. There are no convertibles, no two-seater models and, with the exception of the Giulia in its Quadrifoglio spec, nothing very sporty. How un-Alfa. The Italian automaker is now investing heavily in its range to offer new cars that can be specced as hybrid or fully electric models across its sedans and SUVs. But now, a report from Auto Express warns that the new platform might not mean that a new sports car is on the horizon for Alfa Romeo. Read more: These New Cars Just Aren't Worth The Money Instead of kicking off this new iteration of Alfa Romeo with an aspirational sports car, the new lineup will instead focus on "mainstream" models, reports Auto Express. This, the company claims, will give it the chance to prove to the Stellantis bigwigs that it can sell cars in serious numbers, as the site reports: [Alfa's marketing boss Cristiano Fiorio said]: "We have to generate credibility, so do one model every year and prove that we are able to execute that, make it profitable and make numbers which are acceptable for the investment. Once we have a track record on that, then we can dream." That dream, if you're wondering, is another pure performance car, Fiorio told the site. It's a dream that he claims is shared by the company's executives, engineers and Alfa fans around the world, but it's one that won't materialize until it can sell more cars. In order to muster up more sales, Alfa Romeo will offer its next generation cars on a shared platform that can run on electric power or with a hybrid powertrain. The "huge investment" that's gone into this new platform will underpin the new Stelvio, which will launch this year, and the next-generation Guilia that will follow in 2026. This could mean that, by the time sales ramp up, Alfa will have the technical know-how to put together a real flagship electric sports car that could compete with new performance EVs in development from the likes of Alpine, Lotus, and Caterham. The company isn't giving anything away, though, and instead said that "flexibility is key" when it comes to developing an aspirational model such as this. The last flagship sports car from the Italian brand was the 33 Stradale, which was offered with a V6 motor or as an EV. Alfa made just 33 of the cars, and they all sold out months ago. Of course, whether it runs on batteries or gas, the development of a new Alfa sports car is a moot point if sales don't kick up a few gears for the Italian brand. If 2024 is anything to go by, then it might not be worth holding your breath for a new flagship. Over the course of the year, Alfa sold just 8,865 cars here in the U.S., which marked a 19% drop compared with a year previously. This isn't the kind of trend that would lead to an adorable new sports car from Alfa Romeo, so I'm gonna need you all to hustle and buy an Alfa, OK? If you need a little push to encourage you down to your local Alfa dealer, then check out our review of the Giulia, which is one of the best driving sports sedans on the market today. Want more like this? Join the Jalopnik newsletter to get the latest auto news sent straight to your inbox... Read the original article on Jalopnik.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Alfa Romeo adds electric 4WD to boost demand for bestselling Junior
TURIN — Alfa Romeo will offer its 'Q4' four-wheel-drive system on its global bestseller, the Junior small premium, with the aim of further boosting demand. 'We expect the Junior Q4 to cover a fifth of the model's sales,' Alfa Romeo Marketing Director Christian Fiorio said at the unveiling of the variant here in Turin on March 17. About 80 percent of customers for the Giulia midsize sedan and Stelvio midsize SUV buy the Q4 versions, while the feature accounts for about 20 percent of sales for the Tonale compact SUV, Fiorio said. Sign up for the Automotive News Europe Cars & Concepts newsletter, which covers the biggest moves in Europe's product market. When Alfa Romeo unveiled the Junior last April, it forecast full-year global sales of 50,000 to 70,000. Alfa said it has received more than 27,000 orders for the Junior from 38 countries since its launch, with the full-electric version of the car accounting for 19 percent. The Junior is Alfa Romeo's least-expensive model, with a base price of €29,900 in Italy. The starting price of the Q4 will be €37,400 in Italy. European sales of the Junior last year were 5,251 following its market debut in September. After two months of 2025, Alfa Romeo has sold 5,929 Juniors, making it the brand's bestseller in the region and boosting its overall European sales 29 percent to 9,859 during the period, according to figures from market researcher Dataforce. Looking at the rest of the lineup, the Tonale's volume more than halved to 2,223 units and the aging Giulia and Stelvio accounted for a combined total of just 1,700 sales in two months. The Junior was the No. 4-seller in Europe's small premium segment after two months, trailing the Mini hatchback (11,821), Audi A1 (9,475) and the electric-only Volvo EX30 (7,370). The full-electric variant of the Junior was fourth in sales in the segment with 716 (12 percent of the model's total). It finished the first two months behind the EX30, Mini hatchback (3,424), Mini Aceman (3,347) and the Alpine A290 (880), according to Dataforce. The Junior's Q4 4WD system is offered in combination with a 48-volt mild hybrid gasoline powertrain that mates a 136-hp 1.2-liter turbocharged engine with two 29-hp electric motors. The motor on the front axle is integrated into the Junior's six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (eDCT). The second motor is mounted on the rear axle together with a new multilink rear suspension. Alfa Romeo says the Junior Q4 can deliver 4WD traction even when its 0.9-kilowatt-hour battery is depleted because, when needed, the electric motor on the front axle acts as a generator to deliver power to the rear motor. Alfa calls the system Power Looping Technology. Stellantis also offers the 4WD system on the Jeep Avenger. The Toyota Yaris Cross, Europe's No. 3-selling small SUV, has a similar system, which lets it provide 4WD because it has an electric motor on the rear axle. Four-wheel drive is permanently active on the Junior Q4 variant at speeds of 0 to 30 kph (19 mph). At speeds of 30 to 90 kph, the system only engages if the front wheels lose traction. At higher speeds, the car switches to front-wheel drive only. Alfa Romeo said that the rear electric axle helps the Junior Q4 achieve CO2 emissions of 118 grams per kilometer compared with 109 g/km from the FWD hybrid version of the car. The Junior had a bumpy start. Two days after its debut in April 2024, Alfa Romeo decided to change the car's name, which was originally Milano. The Italian government took exception to the car using the name of the Italian city (Milan in English) on a car that would be built in Poland. The company argued that the Milano name was chosen as an homage to the city where Alfa Romeo was born in 1910, adding that it was designed and engineered in Italy. However, those points didn't quell the controversy. Alfa Romeo chose to rename the car to avoid further conflict.
