The Alfa Romeo Giulietta is still available new. Really. Not for long anymore, because this year the plug will really go out. There is no direct successor, but Alfa Romeo says that the new Tonale must fill the gap.
Earlier this year, the first rumors came into the world that Alfa Romeo is now really finishing production of the Giulietta. The now very old compact middle class is barely worn to customers outside Italy and the shine is also gone in the home country. Alfa Romeo, through marketing chief Fabio Migliavacca, has told Autocar that it will end this year for the Giulietta. This comes to an end after more than ten years.
According to Migliavacca, it means not only the end of the Giulietta, but also the end of an Alfa that competes against cars such as the Volkswagen Golf and Ford Focus. A regular hatchback will no longer return in the range of the brand, he says. The Tonale to be revealed must fill the void that the Giulietta leaves in the C-segment. “The trend is to come up with an SUV in that segment, so the Tonale will replace the Giulietta,” said the Italian. “In terms of performance and handling, that will just become a real Alfa again,” he reassures enthusiasts of the brand.
The Tonale has so far only been presented in concept form. However, a version has also surfaced that appears more production-ready (photos 3 and 4). What is already certain is that the Tonale will be available as a plug-in hybrid. That is a novelty for the brand. Alfa borrows the technology for this from group partner Jeep, so there are also rumors that Alfa Romeo based on technology from new partner PSA will come up with a compact middle class. Who knows, that may happen later, but for the time being it seems that in the future we will only have to do with two Alfa SUVs and the Giulia.