The above rendering is an illustration of the baby Alfa Romeo SUV by Jean Francois Hubert/SB-Medien for CarScoops and has not been endorsed by Alfa Romeo.
Alfa Romeo chief executive Jean-Phillipe Imparato has confirmed that the car manufacturer will launch an SUV to slot below its forthcoming Tonale.
Reports about a new entry-level SUV from Alfa Romeo first surfaced in April and during a roundtable discussion with British journalists last week, Imparato said the Italian automaker needs this new model to compete against rivals, including Mini.
“I can absolutely fight against Mini,” Imparato said. “Premium-ness is not a question of size. I’m convinced if I want to put Alfa Romeo on the safe side of P&L [profit and loss] in 10 years, I must be in the biggest segments in the world,” he said. “I need to be in the B-SUV segment [small] and C-SUV [compact]. Being in the corner doesn’t bring any results.”
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Alfa Romeo Tonale Concept
Details about this new model are limited but reports suggest it could be dubbed Brennero, in reference to a mountain pass in northern Italy. It may also be built at Stellantis’ plant in Poland and could be based on PSA’s eCMP platform, allowing Alfa Romeo to offer both hybrid and all-electric variants.
Imparato added that venturing into new SUV segments will prove hugely beneficial for the automaker.
“The C-SUV segment in Europe is around 2.5 to 3 million cars a year in Europe,” he said. “The B-SUV segment is 2 million. Whatever the market share you have, it’s a huge effect in terms of volume.”
The Tonale has been a long time coming and will finally launch next year, with production kicking off in March 22 at Alfa Romeo ’s factory in Pomigliano, Italy, Auto News reports. It remains to be seen when the Brennero could launch.
Alfa Romeo Tonale Concept