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Michael Taylor4 Aug 2014
NEWS

Alfa SUV is coming

Another of the models Alfa Romeo so desperately needs is on the way. This time, for sure
The mid-sized premium SUV battle could be about to get its most charismatic and stylish challenger, with Alfa Romeo promising to join the fight in 2016.
Though Alfa Romeo and Fiat have long promised to dive into the world's biggest-growing market segment (see artist's impression from 2012), it has taken almost two decades for the ailing Italians to finally commit to taking on the Audi Q5, the BMW X3, the Mercedes-Benz GLK and Porsche's Macan.
Finally, Alfa Romeo sources insist it is deep into the development phase of not one, but two SUVs, including a larger Q7, X5, Cayenne and M-Class rival due in 2018.
Sources say both SUVs will finally deliver on the power and handling promises the brand has been failing to keep in its mainstream production models, with "more than enough" power to defeat the present premium incumbents.
"Alfa hasn't just been waiting on the right new chassis architecture to slot beneath its soft-roaders, but it's also been waiting on a new family of engines," one Alfa Romeo source confirmed.
The new SUVs have been developed as part of its plan to launch eight new models by 2018, with the most powerful member of the all-new engine family, a biturbo V6, said to be capable of up to 375kW of power.
That will be enough to launch Alfa's junior SUV into the thickest part of the premium fight, allowing it to trade punches with the SQ5, the Macan Turbo and the M Performance Automobiles version of the X3.
Sources say the new chassis architecture has been geared up around 50:50 front-to-rear weight distribution and has been developed for both rear- and all-wheel drive applications, which augers well for the upcoming SUV's chassis balance.
The SUV will also have strong diesel variants, too, with Fiat PowerTrain and VM said to be working on a 260kW, 700 Nm 3.0-litre V6, which would give it about 30kW more than the most powerful of the Audi diesel variants, the SQ5.
The SUVs won't be the first products of Alfa's new wave, though, because the Giulia, conceived to fight the BMW 3-Series, the Audi A4, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the upcoming Jaguar XE, should have its global premiere before the end of next year. A larger sedan, to join the constant arm wrestle that is the European premium D-segment, is due a year later.
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Written byMichael Taylor
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