These Italians are going to drive us crazy. After the Giulia, with which Alfa Romeo "broke the Internet" and brought smiles to Alfisti everywhere, it is preparing for the next hit. The launch of two SUVs, which will target BMW's X-series. Let's get straight to the point:
So Alfa Romeo is preparing two SUVs. A small one, which will sit on the Fiat 500L platform, and a large one, which will share a platform with the -also upcoming- Maserati Levante (testing is already taking place on the Ghibli platform). The top-of-the-line version of Alfa Romeo's small SUV, which will wear the QV badge, will carry the familiar 1,750cc turbo engine that powers the 4C and the Giulietta QV (which you'll soon see us tease on this page). Not coincidentally, as reports suggest that this SUV will, design-wise, bear a very strong resemblance to the Giulietta. The best news, though, we haven't told you yet:
Alfa Romeo (FCA) is trying to cast... black darkness on the information regarding the biggest of the SUVs it is preparing, but it is hard to hide the fact that, since it is aiming to "capture" the US market, it will be a "sibling" to the Maserati Levante. Sources from FCA say that in this case, the design will be more "unique and distinctive" ("distinctive appearance in and out", they say) and not without reason. Because the top version of this SUV will wear the beastly 510bhp 3-liter V6 that we "got to know" in the Giulia.
With that said, a mystery is the performance this Alfa will have, although, due to its weight it is expected to reach the first 100 from a standstill in around 5.5 seconds. And the question, here, is whether Alfa will create a model that will be slower than the main rivals it has set its sights on, in the segment, the BMW X6M and the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. We'll just have to wait until 2017, when the launch is expected (there are reports that Alfa's small SUV and the Maserati Levante will precede it, to be followed by Alfa's top-of-the-line SUV).
"And then", one might ask, "what reason will the Levante have to exist?" The Italians have taken care of that too, planning to dress the top-of-the-line version of Maserati's first SUV with the Maserati Quattroporte GTS' 3.8-litre V8 biturbo, mated to an electric motor (which remains a mystery for now).
Bonus: Reports suggest that it's likely that Alfa's big SUV and the Maserati Levante will be built in Turin...
Tip: In the photos (which we "borrowed" from here )see the "mule" of the Maserati Levante and some renderings of the small Alfa SUV
