Alfa Romeo says it isn’t looking to roll out high-performance versions of its most compact SUVs, including the newly launched Junior light SUV and the Tonale small SUV, and will instead reserve its Quadrifoglio sub-brand for more exclusive, higher-end models.
The Quadrifoglio name – also known as Quadrifoglio Verde (QV), which means green four-leaf clover in Italian – is generally applied to high-performance variants of existing models. Just two QV cars currently exist in Alfa Romeo’s Australian lineup – the Giulia Quadrifoglio sedan and the related Stelvio Quadrifoglio mid-size SUV – although there have been others in the past, such as the Giulietta.
Both of these cars add high-output turbocharged V6 petrol engines, unique steering and suspension components, more advanced aerodynamic elements, and carbon-fibre interior extras to their standard counterparts.
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The Italian brand is therefore able to put plenty of distance between its mainstream models and their performance-branded variants, both in terms of pricing and market positioning, unlike a multitude of other European brands including Mercedes-Benz, which adapts design cues from its Mercedes-AMG flagships to cheaper AMG-Line variants, and BMW, which applies the M Sport moniker to variants below its full-fat M-cars.
New models, like the recently launched Junior, may provide an opportunity to expand the QV range, but Alfa Romeo head of product Mario Lamagna said such vehicles don’t fit the prestige of the Quadrifoglio Verde brand.
“I can tell you that we thought about that, but for the moment, with the technologies that we have, we didn’t believe there was a powertrain that was the right one to be called the Quadrifoglio for Junior,” he told media at the Junior’s local launch.
“In this segment, you have to be very careful with what you do because, again, Quadrifoglio is a very strong high-performance label.
“The decision we took was to protect it and to keep it for the higher segments, but depending on the feedback and on the success of Junior, and what we will be able to do with our engineers, we never know where we could go at the end.”
In Australia, the Junior is available with either mild-hybrid (Ibrida) or fully electric (Elettrica) powertrains. Priced at $45,900 before on-road costs, Ibrida vehicles come with a turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine with 48V mild-hybrid assistance, producing 107kW of power and 230Nm of torque.
Elettrica variants, meantime, bump the price to $57,900 before on-roads but add a single electric motor fed by a 54kWh lithium-ion battery, delivering peak outputs of 115kW and 260Nm.
Though it’s not an apples-with-apples comparison, these powertrains are similar to the base options found in the Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV. Both utilise 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engines offering 206kW/400Nm, and are priced at $80,450 and $88,450 before on-roads respectively.
Where these models differ is with their Quadrifoglio variants. Both cars get a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine with monstrous outputs of 375kW/600Nm, but prices to match – the Giulia Quadrifoglio costs $156,990 before on-roads, while the Stelvio Quadrifoglio costs $162,700 before on-roads.
As difficult as it may be to shoehorn a V6 into a Junior, that context adds weight to Mr Lamagna’s insistance that “QV is a really serious thing in Alfa”.
“There are many different characteristics that an Alfa needs to respect to be called a QV. It’s almost a sub-brand of Alfa, Quadrifoglio Verde. In our office we study if an Alfa can be a QV, we take it very seriously,” he said.
“I will never say no to QV in any model, but it is something that has to be studied, because QV means serious stuff. We have to be very careful in protecting that label.”