What's the news?
Well, here we are then. If ever you fancied standing on the brink of something big, this is as good a spot as you'll find. Whether, though, it's the brink of a long, fast climb to glory or a bottomless, steep drop to ignominy we'll just have to wait and see.
Alfa Romeo has had more new beginnings than Status Quo at this stage. A beloved brand it most certainly is, regularly featuring high on lists of all-time favourites, but at this stage it hasn't made a truly ground-breaking car since the original Alfasud of the seventies, and hasn't had a decent sales success since the 156 of 1997.
This is where that is all supposed to turn around. This is the new Giulia and not only is it new from the ground up, but its rear-wheel drive chassis aims it right at the centre of the toughest of all targets to hit: BMW.
That's what Alfa wants and needs this new compact sports saloon to do - to take sales away from the mighty and mighty-strong-selling BMW 3 Series. If it does so, and pinches a few Audi and Mercedes-Benz buyers along the way, Alfa may well be on the road to future success. If not, well, let's not go there just now shall we?
The technical specification is as mouth watering as the sexy styling you can now see in full. The rear-drive platform is essentially a chopped-about version of the chassis already seen under the Maserati Ghibli, and that's a car with some impressive dynamics. If Alfa can replicate the Ghibli's body control and steering accuracy, it'll be well on its way to matching the 3 Series.
Encouragingly, the whole car has been developed away from the normal Turin-Milan axis of Fiat and Alfa Romeo R&D and has instead been worked on by a very small, select team of engineers at a 'Skunk Works' set up specifically for the job in Modena, close to the home factories of Maserati and Ferrari. And while Maserati is donating a chassis, Ferrari is donating an engine...
Actually, the 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine is also a Maser unit, but Alfa will be playing the Ferrari connection for everything it's worth, given that Ferrari will also use the unit in the upcoming 'Dino' sports car. In top-spec Quadrofoligo Verde (four-leafed-clover, Alfa's traditional sporting badge) form, it's expected to produce 510hp, and be slotted into a special body featuring carbon-fibre panels to keep the weight as close as possible to 1,500kg. Alfa claims 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.
On more mundane turf, the Giulia will use the familiar 140- and 170hp 2.0-litre diesel engines shared with various Fiat and Jeep products. There is also the probability of a 2.2-litre diesel coming next year with more power and torque, and there'll be a 3.0-litre V6 diesel, shared with Maserati and Jeep, too. Alfa's familiar DNA switch, which alters the throttle map, steering weight and electronic controls is present and correct, but now the A stands for Advanced Efficient, which is basically a match for BMW's EcoPro mode.
Suspension is by double wishbones up front and a multi-link setup at the back with a torque-distributing differential.
The interior looks nicely pared-back and minimalist and is focused heavily towards the driver, in Germanic style. As you'd expect with Alfa, sex appeal is high on the agenda, and it looks gorgeous, but the quality will have to be utterly spot on if it's to stand comparison with BMW, Mercedes and Audi, not to mention Jaguar and Lexus. Alfa is mixing natural materials like wood with high tech carbon fibre for a unique look.
There's quite a bit of carbon fibre and other lightweight materials in the body too as Alfa strives for a low kerb weight and a 50:50 weight distribution. There's even an updated Alfa badge to emphasise the car's total newness.
The marketing, which will surround the Giulia, will also be crucial. Petrol heads with Alfa blood in their veins will be an easy sell for this car, but there's not enough of them (us) out there. To succeed, Alfa has to convince the general car buying public that it's now as good as the Germans, and it will need some headline-grabbing PCP deals too.
Here's a question though - will any of that matter? Even if the Giulia sells well, that may not be the point. There is growing speculation that Alfa is being built up as a fatted calf, essentially to tempt a major partner into a merger with Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles. Certainly that's what industry analyst Max Warburton told Reuters this week, saying that while the Giulia will "look great and boast huge power and performance, we think it is still developed on the cheap, far from production ready and unlikely to sell in large quantities. It is a high-stakes plan, aimed at building credibility with any potential acquirer of FCA."
So, gorgeous body? Yup. Impressive engine line up? Certainly. Promises aplenty of high quality and German-matching dynamics? Those too. But finding real, paying customers? Keeping the investment dollars and Euro rolling in to build Alfa up into something worthwhile? Or even just, as Warburton suggests, creating something exciting enough to tempt in a merger partner? Harder work by far. We've seen the Giulia now, and it's lovely. But Alfa's hardest journey yet is only just beginning.
The video below is well worth a watch. You can hear that V6 at work and see the rear-drive chassis and active aerodynamics at work...
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