C segment
At FCA’s 2014 Investors’ Briefing, the company announced it would launch two new compact models. The first is likely to be a replacement for the Golf-rivalling Giulietta hatchback. Due in 2020, the new model could use the Giorgio platform currently employed in the Giulia sedan meaning it would switch to a rear-wheel-drive layout – uncommon among hatchbacks. It will probably be built at the firm’s factory in Cassino, Italy with production lasting until 2026.
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The second rumoured compact car is the Alfetta. Details have been scarce since the 2014 briefing but it’s thought that it’ll be a compact sedan version of the new Giulietta – making it a rival to the Audi A3 Sedan and Mercedes A-Class sedan. If it’s put into production, the Alfetta will also be built in Cassino from 2020 until around 2028. Unfortunately, Alfa Romeo’s recent sluggish sales could mean the company scraps this model in favour of more SUVs.
D segment
Launched in 2016, the Giulia sedan was poised to reinvent the brand as a competitor to Audi and Mercedes and would spearhead its push to 400,000 sales per year in 2018. Unfortunately, those numbers proved to be optimistic. Production at Cassino is now around 67,500 models per year, with a facelift due in 2020 to keep it competitive until it goes off sale in 2023.
Its disappointing sales performance is a shame considering the Giulia was the inaugural model for FCA’s new rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform. Performance fans can order a Quadrifoglio version with a 510hp 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6 specifically developed for the car by Ferrari. Initial plans for the model included a wagon version, but it seems that model has now been sidelined in favour of a Giulia-based coupe.
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By GlobalDataSUVs
In 2017, following the launch of the Stelvio, the late Sergio Marchionne announced that Alfa Romeo had plans for two further SUVs. The first of these is the currently unnamed C-UV that’s expected to sit below the Stelvio in terms of size. It’s possible that Alfa Romeo will bestow it with a more coupe-like bodystyle to rival models such as the Mercedes GLC Coupe.
While it’s smaller than the Stelvio, the C-UV is likely to share the same rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform. In November 2018, FCA confirmed to unions that the new model would be built at the Pomigliano d’Arco, Italy factory that currently manufactures the Fiat Panda – a vote of confidence in the under-utilised facility.
The second new SUV announced by Marchionne is an as-yet-unnamed large model to sit about the Stelvio. It’s possible it could take the name Dolomiti in reference to the Grande Strada delle Dolomiti – a spectacular road with views of the Dolomite mountains. Like the Stelvio, the Dolomiti will be based on the Giorgio platform, likely in a similar form to the version underpinning the Maserati Levante.
Production was initially expected to start in the first half of 2018 but that target has now been delayed – estimates currently suggest mid-2019 for a start date. It’s likely that FCA’s factory in Mirafiori, which already houses Levante production, will be the chosen production location. If the Dolomiti does appear in 2019, it’ll remain on sale until 2027 with a facelift in 2023.
The Stelvio SUV went on sale in 2017 and was the second vehicle based on the Giorgio platform. It’s targeting a fiercely competitive segment with rivals including the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC. Like the Giulia, it’s built at FCA Italy’s Cassino factory and production is expected to continue until 2025 with a facelift appearing some time around 2021.
Power comes from a range of turbocharged gasoline and diesel engines mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission supplied by ZF. At the top of the range is the Stelvio Quadrifoglio with the same 2.9-litre Ferrari-developed V6 as the Giulia but, in this case, utilising a four-wheel-drive system that can send torque to the front wheels if it detects slip.
Sports cars
Alfa Romeo may be banking on sedans and SUVs to make up the bulk of its balance sheet but the brand’s image is inextricably tied to sports cars. The only current one is the mid-engined 4C that went on sale in 2013. It’s built at FCA’s Modena factory that currently produces the Maserati GranTurismo and GranCabrio but there are no plans to renew it after it goes off sale in 2021.
The 4C is something of an oddball among the rest of FCA’s lineup because it’s based on a carbon-fibre monocoque chassis supplied by Adler Plastic. That means it weighs less than 1,000kg – a figure so low that Alfa Romeo took the unconventional step of supplying it without power steering. A 1.75-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 240hp sits behind the seats.
Rumours have been floating around for a while that there might be a successor to the 8C that went off sale in 2010. Details are thin but Tim Kuniskis, the head of Alfa Romeo, claimed in June 2018 that the car would have to be mid-engined, powered by a “twin turbo”, have an electric front axle and a power output of “700+ combined horsepower”.
If the car does get the green light, production could start in 2022 and continue until 2030 with a facelift in 2026. Like its rarified predecessor – of which only around 500 were produced – the 8C will probably be built in low numbers and sell for a very high price. The production location hasn’t been confirmed but the Maserati line in Modena seems a likely choice.
At FCA’s Capital Markets Day in June 2018, the group confirmed that the GTV nameplate would be making a comeback. It claimed the new model would feature 50/50 weight distribution, around 600hp from a hybrid powertrain, all-wheel drive with torque vectoring, and seating for four. The GTV will almost certainly take the form of a coupe version of the Giulia, based on the same FCA Giorgio platform and built at the same Cassino factory.
A timeline for production is unclear but it’s unlikely to appear before the conclusion of the brand’s current business plan in 2022. That would mean it’ll remain on sale until 2030 with a facelift in 2026. Alfa Romeo could also choose to introduce a convertible version that, based on the brand’s naming traditions, would probably be called the Spider.
Future model plan reports for other manufacturers can be viewed in the OEM product strategy summaries section of just-auto.com.
Future product program intelligence
More detail on the past, current and forthcoming models for FCA’s car brands can be found in PLDB, the future vehicles database which is part of QUBE.
Fiat was the first, then came Abarth and Lancia, and now this one is the fourth feature in a series covering current and future passenger vehicles made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Others to come will focus on Maserati, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and finally, Ram.
