It could become Alfa’s main cash cow
Alfa Romeo expects great things from the Stelvio SUV, a model it expects to carry the brand’s sales figures on its shoulders.
Rivals Jaguar hit it big with the F-Pace, a model which in the US sold more vehicles in its first year than the brand’s entire lineup combined, and now Alfa evidently wants a piece of that in the face of dwindling sedan sales and the increasingly talented array of competing SUVs.
The Stelvio is based on the same rear-wheel drive platform as the Giulia, it looks quite similar (even though it’s obviously taller) and will most likely share its range of petrol and diesel engines. What it promises over the low-slung, tarmac-only Giulia is occasional escapades on unpaved roads, where it looks like it’s going to be a really tail happy and fun… in a rally car kind of way.
Interestingly, there’s not even that much of a performance penalty caused by the Stelvio’s larger, less aerodynamic body. In Quadrifoglio trim, with 505 hp, Giulia takes 3.8 seconds to hit sixty, while Stelvio needs just a tenth more; top speed is affected and drops from 191 mp to 177 mph (307 km/h to 284 km/h). This means it will be practically just as nippy as the sedan, even if the engine chose is either of the 2.0-liter petrol units or one of the 2.2-liter diesels available in Europe. The lower-powered 180 hp diesel will be the only power plant available in rear-wheel-drive-only guise, all others featuring all-wheel drive as standard.
The Italian automaker released a series of videos showcasing the Stelvio (Quadrifoglio) in the environments it’s expected to perform best in: on the road and not very far from the road, at least not on those tires…