The current generation of the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV will continue to be made until 2027 as the Italian marque scrambles to add internal combustion engines to their replacements.
As reported by Motor1, Alfa’s CEO Santo Ficili announced the reprieve during a presentation for the facelifted Tonale.
According to Autocar, the current Giulia and Stelvio will remain in production as their replacements have been delayed again. This time, Alfa is scrambling to add internal combustion engines — rumoured to be hybrids — to second-generation Stelvio and Giulia, which were originally designed to be electric only.
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That’s because until the beginning of this year, Alfa Romeo had planned to become an EV-only brand starting in 2027, but slowing growth in the electric segment and a reported backlash from the company’s US dealers caused the company to change course.
Both the next-generation Giulia and Stelvio will be based on the STLA Large architecture that underpins the latest two- and four-door Dodge Charger. STLA Large is a flexible platform that supports both pure electric drivetrains and combustion engines.
Launched early last year, the Charger has attracted mixed reviews and slow sales as it, at the time of writing, only available with a selection of electric drivetrains. Sixpack models powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo ‘Hurricane’ straight-six are due to be launched later this year.
Alfa has yet to detail which engines it’s planning to use in the next-generation Stelvio and Giulia.
A memo earlier this year indicated the company would continue making diesel-powered versions of the first-generation Stelvio and Giulia, but was going to stop production of petrol variants by the end of May 2025, with the high-performance Quadrifoglio versions marching off to the never-never a month or two earlier.
It seems as though the current generation’s reprieve also reverses the execution orders for the petrol and Quadrifoglio models.
Jules Tilstone, head of Alfa Romeo and DS in the UK, told Autocar the Giulia and Stelvio will continue to be sold with petrol engines.
He also added Quadrifoglio versions would once again trundle down the production line at Alfa’s Cassino, Italy factory, with the first cars expected to emerge around April 2026.
It’s unknown if any modifications are required to make the Quadrifoglio’s 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 compliant with Euro 7 emissions regulations, but Mr Tilstone claims they will be “effectively the same”.
The current Giulia, launched in 2015, and the Stelvio, which debuted a year later, are based on the rear- and all-wheel drive Giorgio architecture championed by then Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne.
It was envisioned as the platform from which Alfa would challenge the hegemony of German brands in the luxury market. Unfortunately for the Italian marque, the Giulia and Stelvio never got close to troubling the 3 Series and X3, and rumoured models, including competitors to the 5 Series and X5, never saw the light of day.
The platform has been has been elsewhere, though, including Maserati Grecale, GranTurismo and GranCabrio, as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee. While these models all feature electrified drivetrains, the Alfa twins rely solely on internal combustion.
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