Alfa Romeo is in a weird place in the automotive landscape. Its current lineup comprises the compact Tonale SUV, the larger Stelvio, and the Giulia sedan. However, the latter two products are aging rapidly. Things are especially challenging because competitors like Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are quickly introducing new, more technologically advanced products. With each model launch by rivals, the Alfa offerings become less competitive.
Things are changing, though. Alfa Romeo and Maserati boss Santo Ficili provided some hints about the brand’s future during the international media drive for the subcompact Junior SUV. New models are on the way to update the brand’s range.
Improving The Giulia And Stelvio
According to Ficili, the Stelvio will debut later in 2025, and sales will start in 2026. The new Giulia will follow a little later. Alfa Romeo will build them in Italy. Both models will ride on the STLA Large multi-energy platform and will be available with a hybrid powertrain. These underpinnings are already underneath the latest Dodge Charger.
Ficili didn’t provide any additional details about these vehicles, but there have been previous rumors about the new Giulia and Stelvio. The brand previously intended to become a fully electric automaker. Like much of the industry, the company decided to back off of these plans in favor of continuing to use combustion powertrains.
“The biggest thing in our product and technology road map is transitioning from what was a BEV-only strategy for Alfa to one that is multi-energy,” Alfa Romeo’s North American boss, Chris Feuell, said earlier this year. “We’ve got 110 dealers … in our U.S. network, and it would be very challenging for them to survive with a BEV-only portfolio.”
There are rumors that the next Giulia might become a crossover rather than a sedan. The French publication L’Argus previously cited sources claiming the vehicle would be available in 2026.
What Happens Next?
Alfa Romeo’s product strategy is to introduce a new product or model variant every year through 2030. Not all of them would be available in the U.S., though. Its goal is to increase global sales to between 80,000 to 90,000 units worldwide, which would be an increase from 62,000 examples in 2024.
Alfa Romeo needs to do something to boost its dwindling sales in the U.S. In 2024, the company sold just 8,865 vehicles in the country, down 19 percent from the previous year. Deliveries of the Giulia and Stelvio fell 33 percent and 41 percent, respectively.
Ficili has worked his way up the corporate ladder at the company that’s now Stellantis. He started as a Fiat brand manager in Rome in July 1987. By 2011, he was Fiat’s sales manager for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. Ficili took over as the CEO of Alfa Romeo and Maserati divisions in October 2024.
TopSpeed’s Take
Alfa Romeo is moving in the right direction. Given the industry’s current state, becoming an EV-only automaker isn’t the right choice. As the stronger-selling vehicle of the pair, we can understand why the automaker would replace the Stelvio first and then update the Giulia. The situation is shaping up to be fascinating for the Italian brand in the next few years.
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