ALFA ROMEO

EXCLUSIVE: Castello SUV will compete with the BMW X5

Jean-Philippe Imparato lived up to his words. Under his command, Alfa Romeo regains its sporting spirit with the next commercial launch of the unprecedented Tonale. While some insist on building a product offering in parallel with what the Frenchman has in mind, he confirmed that one of the next models he has on his agenda for future launches is none other than a completely new SUV, situated above the Stelvio.

The French CEO confirmed this in an interview with the Dutch media, in which it was more than clear in his words. The so far known as Alfa Romeo Castello(image above), an SUV for the E-segment, competing with proposals such as the BMW X5, will be a reality in the coming years. No concrete date has been set, but it has been advanced that we will see it on the roads in 2027, so it is deduced from this five-year deadline that it is not one of the priorities.

In fact, this more important role is the responsibility of the Tonale, the new B-SUV that will arrive in mid-2023 and the renewed Stelvio, which will not take long to arrive, but the real objective is that they are the first two to return the Alfa. Romeo on the path of positive numbers. And of these two, we can say that the high hopes are placed squarely on the new Tonale, which has already been qualified as the 'money-making machine'.

Imparato also confirmed that he intends for the Milanese brand to return to the upper segments, that is, above the D, exclusively revealing that “I had not said this to anyone before, but as I want to be Stellantis' global Premium brand, and because everyone in the world know our brand, I want to bring a high-end SUV to the market. How we are going to shape this exactly is another question, but we will have a model above the D-segment.”

Let's be careful, because the CEO did not stop there, but continued with his vision of the future, emphasizing that “we are going for the most profitable segment in the world”. And this is none other than the luxury and representation models, adding that “We are targeting models like the BMW X5, X6 and the 7 Series. This decision was taken recently, and with it we can also go to growth markets like China. ”, one of the great world markets where its great rival, BMW, is already present and has a high acceptance, and from which the Italians also want their share of the pie. A direct warning to German competitors. 

Autonews