Currently reading: First pictures of new Alfa Romeo Stelvio as current car bows out

Flagship seen testing as brand begins phasing out the current SUV and its Giulia saloon sibling

Alfa Romeo is putting the finishing touches on the next-generation Stelvio, having started to phase out the current-generation SUV and its saloon sibling, the Giulia.

Images of a Stelvio prototype testing in northern Sweden reveal that it's a significantly longer car than the current one and appears to have a more rakish roofline.

Up front, it takes clear inspiration from the smaller Alfa Romeo Junior but gets a different look that splits the headlights and daytime running units into two sections, with the latter set just below the lip of the bonnet.

At the rear is a set of arrow-shaped brake lights that, as previously revealed in an official teaser image, outline the tailgate in a shield-like design.

There's also a duck-tail-style lip spoiler that neatly separates the car’s glasshouse from its rear fascia.

Completing the look is a new three-spoke iteration of Alfa’s historic Teledial wheel design, shod in Continental winter rubber.

The new Stelvio will be underpinned by Alfa parent company Stellantis’s new STLA Large platform and will offer the choice of hybrid and electric powertrains.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio light teaser

The platform can support battery packs with capacities of up to 118kWh – claimed to yield ranges of up to 500 miles – as well as “extreme” powertrains with more shove than the Dodge Challenger Hellcat’s supercharged V8.

For reference, the first STLA Large-based car, the Dodge Charger Daytona, gets a 93.9kWh nickel-cobalt-aluminum battery that allows it to drive up to 308 miles between charges.

The range-topping Scat Pack model also gets dual motors with silicon-carbide inverters that combine to put out 670bhp, allowing it to do the 0-60mph sprint in 3.3sec.

Advertisement

Read our review

Car review

Alfa’s Quadrifoglio performance SUV is revised for 2024. Can a high-riding SUV still entertain like the sensational Giulia QV?

Back to top

However, former Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Philippe Imparato previously said the hot Quadrifoglio version of the new Stelvio-twinned Giulia would pack “around 1000hp”.

It’s likely that Alfa will also offer a petrol-powered Quadrifoglio, retaining the current car’s 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6.

Imprato confirmed in 2023 that the 513bhp lump would survive the incoming Euro 7 emissions rules, stating: “I would like something [compliant with] the [new] regulation to be interesting.”

The news comes as Alfa begins to taper off sales of the existing Giulia and Stelvio. In a statement supplied to Autocar, it confirmed that Giulia Quadrifoglio order books will close at the end of March, with the Stelvio Quadrifoglio following at the end of April.

The 2.0-litre petrol versions of both cars will come off sale at the end of May.

The Giulia will remain available in Europe in diesel form therafter but, as it is no longer sold with this engine in the UK, it will mark the end of the car's life here.

The diesel Stelvio will remain on sale in the UK until the new model arrives.

The new Stelvio and Giulia will be instrumental in Alfa's success going forward. Its sales have declined significantly in the UK in recent years, falling from 4997 in 2017 to around 1600 in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.

It has registered 125 cars here so far this year, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders.

Join our WhatsApp community and be the first to read about the latest news and reviews wowing the car world. Our community is the best, easiest and most direct place to tap into the minds of Autocar, and if you join you’ll also be treated to unique WhatsApp content. You can leave at any time after joining - check our full privacy policy here.

Charlie Martin

Charlie Martin Autocar
Title: Staff Writer

As part of Autocar’s news desk, Charlie plays a key role in the title’s coverage of new car launches and industry events. He’s also a regular contributor to its social media channels, providing videos for Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and Twitter.

Charlie joined Autocar in July 2022 after a nine-month stint as an apprentice with sister publication What Car?, during which he acquired his gold-standard NCTJ diploma with the Press Association.

Charlie is the proud owner of a Fiat Panda 100HP, which he swears to be the best car in the world. Until it breaks.

Join the debate

Comments
16
Add a comment…
sabre 21 March 2025

It seems Alfa Romeo has been resucitated for decades. My advice to Stellantis: Sell Alfa to a German manufacturer with one condition - its Reliability Department Manager has to be Japanese.

sabre 21 March 2025

resuscitated

Peter Cavellini 21 March 2025

 Have to sa Alfas aren't that popular where I live, infact, I saw a Tonale a couple of days ago and that's the first since it was on sale,any other Alfas I see are old nails that have been driven into the ground.

Roadster 21 March 2025

The current Stelvio will be the first Alfa since 2010 which will have been immediately replaced by a new model. The last time Alfa replaced a model, there was an eight year gap between the 159 and Giulia. Kind of sums up Alfa's product management this century really.