A few years ago, theAlfa Romeo was clear. Under the direction of Jean-Philippe Imparato, the Italian brand was to switch entirely to electric power by 2027, with a new generation of electric Giulia and Stelvio 100 %, followed by a large SUV positioned above the current Stelvio. But that was before.
Since the arrival of new CEO Antonio Filosa in June 2025, things have been changing. And if Stellantis remains focused on electrification, Alfa Romeo, like Maserati, seems to be redefining its priorities, taking a more pragmatic approach.
A product plan turned upside down (and more flexible than expected)
First, let's remember that the launch of the new Giulia and Stelvio has been postponed to 2027, whereas they were originally scheduled to be unveiled as early as 2025 and 2026 in the form of the 100 % electric. The reason? To integrate hybrid powertrains, better suited to current demand and certain strategic markets such as North America.
This shift in the timetable has opened up a window of opportunity for reflection. Alfa Romeo's decision-makers can review the copy, refine priorities and, in all likelihood, introduce flexibility into a range that was supposed to be fixed on pure electric. And it was against this backdrop that current CEO Santo Ficili dropped a few hints about the direction to come.
"The Giulia and Stelvio will be the biggest Alfa Romeo ever".
This sentence, reported by Automotive News and picked up by several specialist media, changes everything. It means several things. Firstly, that the Giulia and Stelvio will remain the brand's "flagship" models in terms of size. The future Stelvio will be slightly larger than the current one, and the next Giulia, which will share its platform, could follow the same trend.
Above all, this statement puts a definitive stop to Alfa Romeo's ambitions for a large SUV or E-segment sedan. The project for a larger SUV based on the STLA Large platform, mooted at the time of Imparato, seems well and truly abandoned. "Big cars are not Alfa Romeo's territory", Ficili is quoted as saying.
An "Alfa Romeo surprise" in the works
Between the Tonale and the future Stelvio, another model, currently codenamed A4U, is still awaited. This "surprise" Alfa Romeoto be unveiled in the second half of 2026, will come between the Tonale and the current Stelvio, both in size and price.
This model could enable Alfa Romeo to strengthen its presence in the C/D segment, one of the most dynamic in Europe. An approach that makes sense, especially at a time when the brand needs to consolidate its volumes before tackling new territories.
Maserati, major beneficiary of Alfa Romeo's refocusing
By declaring that "large cars are not Alfa Romeo's territory", Santo Ficili also leaves a strategic space open for Maserati. For if Alfa Romeo concentrates on the compact and intermediate segments, Maserati can fully occupy the upper end of the spectrum. The Quattroporte would retain its role as a large Italian sedan, and the future Levante as a luxury SUV, embodying the group's premium expertise in the E-segment.
In other words, Alfa Romeo and Maserati would stop stepping on each other's toes, by finally clarifying their positioning:
- Alfa Romeo for sporty, dynamic and premium cars.
- Maserati for luxury, performance and prestige.
Awaiting Stellantis' new industrial plan
The final word will go to new CEO Antonio Filosa, who is due to present the company's financial statements at the end of the first half of 2026, its industrial plan which will succeed Carlos Tavares' Dare Forward 2030. At that time, we'll officially know what the future holds for all the Group's brands, including Alfa Romeo.
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Imparato's mistake was not to adapt a hybrid engine to the Giulia and Stelvio phase 2, whereas the Grecale, which has the same Giorgio base, was fitted with the 2.0 l GME hybrid.
The same goes for the future Giulia and Stelvio, which are planned exclusively as electric versions, which is a major strategic error on the part of Stellantis management.
Okay, but the 2.0L GME hybrid is a fake hybrid, not a technological reference at all. The mistake was to stop development of the PHEV when FCA was looking to get married.
It was mainly to boost sales.
Range evolution!
It's been changing every month for 10 years.
Never good.
Very rich range, Duetto, Castillo, GTV, etc... then nothing.
New Stelvio and Giulia 25/26 then 27/28.
Grand SUV ( formerly Castello ) discontinued.
No more Duetto, etc.
I've been an Alfist for 20 years, I'm 60, my life expectancy isn't 150. I've had enough of bastringues at the top of Alfa.
The after-sales service and showroom are already ZERO, so next time I'll go to the Germans.
I'm 78 and have been an Alfist since 1979.
I've just bought my first Japanese car, and my Mazda feels like an Alfa.
I'm afraid I'm running out of time to find a new, affordable Alfa worthy of the name.
This model could enable Alfa Romeo to strengthen its presence in the C/D segment,
That would be new Tonale 4.6 m, not some new car, you are making a mistake here.
New model will be between Tonale and Junior and it will be 4.35m a b+ segment.
There will indeed be a new model in the C segment that is smaller than the Tonale. But it is not the one that will be unveiled next year.
Only SUVs, as if compact cars weren't selling!
As much as we love Alfa Romeo, between the PureTech engines and the all-electric drive that doesn't suit everyone, we're going to end up looking to the competition.
Imparato is denied everything: he wanted electric Alfa Romeo 100%s in 2027, and yet he's put in charge of Maserati. Imparato is a man from the Tavares era, the one who wanted to kill the Italian automobile.
We couldn't go all-electric in such a short space of time (change has to be gradual, so how can you make such destructive decisions), unless of course the aim is to sink the brand. I have no confidence in Mr. Imparato (I'm afraid for Maserati).
From ex-PSA sources, it seems that the new Alfa surprise is ...a new, larger Junior equivalent. So it's based on the Junior's long platform, that of the Citroen C4. In short, there's no secret to coming up with a surprise so quickly. So it would be a C3 AC or Opel Frontera variant, Junior style. Specific styling. The Fiat version would also be released at the same time.
I know different sources who have seen the Alfa Romeo Surprise. It's an SUV somewhere between Tonale and Stelvio in terms of size. In my opinion, the larger Junior would be the model we're waiting for later (if Filosa doesn't decide otherwise).
I've been loyal to Italian cars for a long time, and I think that after my wife's Giulietta and my Doblo the list will end there.
We had a Thema Tds, three Lybra jtd including a 2.4, a Punto, a Grande Punto and a Punto EVo.
What a disappointment to see the new Fiat, Alfa and Lancia ranges... All SUVs or almost all SUVs!
Often Clones with unreliable engines...
As for the chassis, it's nothing like that of our Giulietta.
Regrets...
Die ganze Welt geht auf Elektro, ich habe lange gewartet das Alfa was sportliches bringt nun sind die Alfas weg und 2 Teslas in der Garage. Gerade als stylischer Mischenanbieter hätte man neue Märkte ohne Konkurrenz erschließen können. Statt dessen entwickelt man für aussterbende Märkte. Ich Hoffe die Chinesen werden Alfa kaufen und das Design ins Elektrozeitalter retten.
Diese ewigen Ankündigungen neuer Modelle ohne diese zeitnah zu verwirklichen schaden der historischen Marke Alfa Romeo. Wie lange hat man auf den 4 c warten müssen?! Als er endlich kam war es nach wenigen Jahren leider schon wieder vorbei. Neben dem Brera ein richtig geil gestyltes Auto!
Bin daher längst zu Cupra gewechselt.
Hopefully they'll make the future Giulia a shorter coupe. Then anyone who wants four doors, buys one of their SUVs.
A new coupe, that's smaller than the Giulia. That's where Alfa's sales are hiding.
The real mistake concerning Alfa Romeo was not selling it to VW in its day. What is Alfa Romeo now? It's just a logo, 2-3 dueling models, rebadges, total nothingness. Worst of all, they managed to bring out a Giulia and Stelvio with Alfa DNA, which in itself was a miracle, but due to lack of development and investment, abandoned them to their fate instead of using them to relaunch the brand.
"Waiting for the new Stellantis industrial plan".
Remember that Stellantis is still less than 5 years old!
It's hard to improve on FCA's lethargy of nearly 20 years.
To hope for a real improvement, we'd have to wait 7 to 10 years... With or without Filosa or Tavares... Looking for someone to blame doesn't help.
Alfa Romeo's new industrial plan is not and will not be respected (it already wasn't under FCA). It's true that "looking for Turks doesn't help", but I'm sorry, they're the ones who set the direction for a project, and when you literally "screw up", you shouldn't leave with a golden parachute. Alfa is a "pepite", in order to make the brand prosper, they should have sold it to VW as Amoroso pointed out.
There's been talk of relaunching Alfa Romeo for over twenty years. The sad fact is that the brand's reputation is poor, and even the excellent Giulia and Stelvio have done nothing to change that.
Alfa Romeo really is an incredibly powerful brand. Despite decades of mistakes, the Biscione is still here. Product plan never respected, model renewal never assured (156 to 159 and Giuia, 147 to Giulietta etc) and where Renault and other brands are able to launch cars in 2 years and Stellantis will present yet another plan in a year's time to try again and again to keep potential customers waiting.