After a year of slight progress in 2025, with the return of the around 70,000 registrations, Alfa Romeo begins 2026 with a simple question: has the momentum finally begun... or is it already running out of steam? First-quarter figures provide a clear-cut answer. While the Junior is holding up well, the rest of the range is giving cause for serious concern, starting with the Tonale.
A slow start to the year in key markets
The overall picture is negative in the main European markets. In Italy, the brand's leading market, the decline was 13 %, with 7,383 registrations compared with 8,500 a year earlier. This decline is far from insignificant, especially when you look at the details: the Junior alone accounts for 4,380 units, the overwhelming majority of volumes.
Most striking is the absence of the Tonale (and unsurprisingly the Giulia and Stelvio) from the top 50 sales charts. A year earlier Tonale still accounted for over 3,000 registrations over the same period. The fall is therefore brutal, and in itself explains the overall decline in the Italian market.
Same trend in France, now Alfa Romeo's second-largest market worldwide. With 1,604 registrations in the first quarter, compared with 2,088 in 2025, the decline reached 23 %. Here again, the Junior dominated with 1,328 units. Behind it, the Tonale falls to 249 units, while the Giulia and Stelvio become almost anecdotal.
Germany is no exception to the rule, quite the contrary. A historically important market for the brand, it posted a drop of 30 %, from 1,934 to 1,352 registrations. The Junior (760 units) limited the damage, but the Tonale (206 units) confirmed its decline.
The United States, from pillar to weakness
The situation is even more worrying on the other side of the Atlantic. Long Alfa Romeo's second-largest market, the United States continues to collapse, with sales down 53 % over the quarter. With just 919 registrations compared with almost 2,000 a year earlier, the brand is reaching a critical point. The trend is all the more worrying in that it is set to continue: -18 % in 2024, -36 % in 2025, and now -53 % at the start of 2026. In three years, volumes have been more than halved. For Stellantis, the question of Alfa Romeo's long-term presence in this market is now clearly on the agenda.
Junior holds its own... but hits a ceiling
Launched in 2024, the Junior remains by far the strongest model in the range. It dominates everywhere: Italy, France, Germany, Spain... and often accounts for over 60 to 80 % of registrations, depending on the country.
But after driving growth in 2025, it already seems to be reaching a ceiling. In several markets, volumes are almost identical to those of the same period last year. In other words, it is no longer growing. This is a classic phenomenon: a launch creates a peak, then a stabilization. Except that in Alfa Romeo's case, there is no other model capable of taking up the slack.
The Tonale, a restyling without effect?
It was one of the issues at the start of the year: could the Tonale's restyling revive its career? The figures give a clear answer: no, at least for the time being.
Wherever data are available, the compact SUV is in sharp decline. In Italy, it disappeared from the top 50. In France and Germany, its volumes are marginal compared with the Junior. In Spain, it remains behind the Stelvio and far from the expected level. The Tonale was supposed to be a mainstay, but has become a secondary model. And without it, the range sorely lacks depth.
A few exceptions... but not enough
All is not negative, however. Some markets are showing encouraging momentum.
Turkey, for example, is up sharply with 590 registrations versus 347 a year earlier, buoyed in particular by an excellent March. Japan also surprised with 502 units compared with 224 in 2025, returning to levels close to 2023. The UK, meanwhile, remains stable with 739 registrations, confirming the improvement already seen in 2025.
But these good results remain marginal in volume terms, and do not compensate for the falls observed in the major markets.
A brand still dependent... and still blocked
In all, Alfa Romeo recorded around 15,300 registrations in the markets monitored in the first quarter of 2026, compared with over 18,000 a year earlier.
The conclusion is in line with previous years. The brand remains locked in a structural stagnation zone. The Junior maintains its level, but no longer allows for progress. The Tonale is in decline, and the Giulia and Stelvio now account for almost nothing in terms of volumes. More than ten years on, the 70,000-annual-registration ceiling still seems hard to break. And without any real range renewal or unexpected success, 2026 could well be like... all the previous years.
| Country | Q1 2026 | Evolution |
|---|---|---|
| Italy | 7383 | -13% |
| France | 1604 | -23% |
| Germany | 1352 | -30% |
| United States | 919 | -53% |
| Spain | 743 | -21% |
| United Kingdom | 739 | 0 |
| Turkey | 590 | 70% |
| Japan | 502 | 124% |
| Poland | 494 | -1,4% |
| Belgium | 372 | -24% |
| Austria | 360 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 242 | -3,2% |
| Netherlands | 227 | -15% |
| 15 300 | -16% |
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After the Giulia and Stelvio, which had every chance of competing with the best, the Tonale arrived with several handicaps. Personally, I love the design. On the other hand, the chassis (and driving pleasure), even if reworked, remains well below that of the Giulia Stelvio. Then there's the price. Over €50,000 for a rechargeable hybrid that offers virtually no customization (interior, wheels, brake calipers, etc.) completes the picture. At this price (close to that of the Stelvio when it first came out), it deserved a Giorgio platform and a minimum of Alfa Romeo spirit.
The price of the Giorgio propulsion base has nothing to do with the Jeep Compass base. In my opinion, the Tonale came out too late on a small base that wasn't suited to it. It should have been built on the evolved base of the Giuletta, which was a very good car. .
The Giulietta was already a common base, whereas releasing a Giulietta and a Tonale on the (shortened) Giorgio 2 would have enabled Alfa and Lancia to release a new compact car and their SUV counterpart. 4 cars and 4 times the chance of making a profit.
At the same time, it's just a restyling... a redesigned front end, thick, ugly Peugeot-style rims... no engine evolution, still quite high in terms of proportions... what did they expect?
È un vero peccato; In questi ultimi anni mancavano nuovi modelli come : Giulia Wagon , nuovo Stelvio, nuova Ammiraglia, spider ecc .
Le vendite si dovevano triplicare...!!!
The Junior and Tonale are the worst models of the Alfa Romeo portfolio. These cars cannot save Alfa Romeo. A new Giulia and Stelvio can. Accompanied with a list of variations (coupe, cabrio, crossover xwd, station). Alfa Romeo is a very strong brand. Treat Alfa Romeo like that.
Indeed, it is not with such models that Alfa Romeo can demonstrate its potential
Da brauch man sich auch nicht zu wundern. Da wird ein Supersportwagen auf die Beine gestellt, der 33 Stradale für Millionen Euro, und das normale Volk muss sich mit dem Junior rumschlagen, der irgendein Derivat aus Peugeot und Jeep ist. Und dazu auch noch mit völlig emotionalosen Stellantis Motoren.
Das das nicht gut gehen kann, ist ja wohl klar.
Dann kommt auch noch dazu, das gewisse Faceliftmodelle auch noch das Nummernschild in der Mitte haben und nicht an der Seite, was die Modelle noch gewöhnlicher macht!
It will go down in Alfa history: the Junior saved the brand, the Tonale, much less so!
The Junior doesn't save anything, it's just the model that sells the most because it's recent and, above all, less expensive.
To «save» Alfa Romeo, you'd need a real Alfa Romeo.
To have a real Alfa Romeo, you'd already need an Italian design with a real Alfa grille, and the Junior with its random, unbalanced styling is a long way off. .
Just look at a Giuletta that still has so much charm and hasn't aged a day!!!!
Finally, the Junior's design is truly Italian and truly Alfa, unless I'm mistaken?
Making a good-looking car on a longer, non-SUV model is particularly easy for designers, but getting it right on a more compact model is a more complicated matter.
And sorry for rubbing it in:
If Junior didn't exist, what would Alfa have been producing for over two years?
She's the lifeblood of the business, so you've got to stop spitting in the soup! No ?
Junior not only saved nothing, but put Alfa's image back on the rocks with his buddy the Tonale.
Thanks to your friend Tavares for killing Abarth, Alfa and Maserati, Citroën thanks to his legendary Franco-Portuguese incompetence!
Worse, no one has ever managed to do such damage...
At the same time, history will note that the worst Lancia of the new millennium was indeed the last Ypsilon.
Maybe buyers want something other than SUVs?
In absolute terms, the Tonale is a good car in its class, but the former Alfa Romeo CEO who said that those with a Giulietta would buy a Tonale was sadly mistaken. He also said that the brand had to go all-electric, to the point of not considering the new Giulia and Stelvio with internal combustion engines. We know what happened next: the models were postponed so that they could also be released as hybrids.
To think that he's running Maserati now... Incomprehensible.
Yes, but the boss is Filosa, who doesn't have the same vision of the group's future as Tavares. .
Just like FCA's predecessors, who said that the Giulia didn't need a station wagon version because of the Stelvio, and today we see that they've made the same mistakes.
The Tonale has a huge problem, it's not released under the right brand and the Junior, you'll have to explain to me how they work because the people they buy it from aren't happy with it and sell it quickly!
Do rental agencies buy them? It can't be otherwise.
Consumers aren't necessarily fussy or fussy-looking. The Junior sells, and too bad if the only interesting model, the Junior Veloce, is just for image's sake.
As for the decisions made by Tavares, Imparato and John Elkann, I prefer not to comment on them. It remains to be seen whether Filosa can make up for the damage.
But the problem is that the best sedan on the market, the Giulia, was not a commercial success, nor was the Stelvio, despite being the best SUV in its segment.
The Stelvio did much better than the Giulia. The Giulia is a renaissance, and as Toyota has said, it takes one or even 2 or 3 generations to establish the return or arrival of a brand.
The first compact sedan was a failure (IS200 and 300), but the next one was a hit, which is why you have to keep at it. The problem isn't with the product, but with the deplorable after-sales service, which is why we use independents (the last straw). Lexus, on the other hand, has a royal after-sales service.
The customers I've seen in Junior are not happy and many have changed it.
The Stelvio sold well and the Giulia, being a «real» reboot, needs 2 or 3 models before breaking through, as Toyota explained for Lexus.
The problem comes from the after-sales service, which is the opposite of Lexus, and that's not normal.
When you've got the crème de la crème like the Giulia or the Stelvio, you develop it year after year, and don't just leave it lying around after 5 years:
«Ah by the way we released 2 great products 5 years ago but what are we doing now with????!»
Anyway, you know the score with Stellantis.
Hebben zelf een Tonale van het eerste productiejaar. Het is een fijne reiswagen en we zijn erg tevreden maar...
- de auto was bij de start niet leverbaar met schuifdak (bestelbon moest aangepast om de auto zes maanden eerder te hebben)
- door het tekort aan chips werd de ons geleverde auto niet voorzien van de mét de voet te openen kofferklep
- de zetels zijn niet alfa waardig, sportzetels zelfs niet tegen meerprijs te bestellen
- bovendien vind ik hem nu veel te duur voor wat hij biedt.
Aangezien ik uitkijk naar een volledig elektrische, zal het dus geen tonale meer worden.
Without bragging, I think I'll do better as a CEO than these millionaire top managers. Suckers, suck worse than that! Oh no, Lancia is even worse! Adio
The problem is simple, Alfa brought out 2 magnificent cars, Giulia and Stelvio, but as usual, Alfa abandoned them to their fate, no derivatives, no station wagon coupe or whatever, nothing but rubbish, no hybridization, no evolution or almost none, no replacements for Mito and Giulietta, absence from the E segment, Tonale brought out on an unsuitable base instead of programming it on Giorgio etc...look no further for the cause of the miserable sales figures.
It's not possible to produce a Tonale or Giulietta based on Giorgio, which is a rear-wheel drive, which would not be profitable enough to produce a compact, whereas BMW has produced its 1 series based on front-wheel drive, shared with the X1 and Mini, so it's easy to say, but not easy to do!
Alfa Romeo
1910-1986
RIP
43 ALFA ROMEO TONALE 1.068
Tonale started selling good. Autor should see results first than write article!