Alfa Romeo’s premium Giulia sedan is aimed squarely at products like the Cadillac ATS, with sleek styling, an upscale interior, available all-wheel-drive, and a base 2.0L turbo I4 engine with a similar level of output (280 horsepower in the Giulia vs. 272 in the ATS). Also like the ATS, there is a range-topping high-performance model with a twin-turbocharged V6, although at 505 horsepower, the Giulia Quadrifoglio packs a somewhat bigger punch than Cadillac’s 464-horsepower ATS-V.
Now, the Alfa Romeo Giulia could be making a play to match the Cadillac ATS’ middle-of-the-range 3.6L V6, with evidence pointing toward the future introduction of a 350-horsepower Giulia in “Veloce” trim (per Fiat Chrysler Authority). The new Alfa Romeo is tipped to make its power with a more highly-tuned version of its 2.0L turbo I4, and its mill would be slightly more potent at its peak than Cadillac’s naturally-aspirated, 335-horsepower LGX V6.
Granted, there’s no replacement for the throttle response of a naturally-aspirated engine, and Alfa Romeo seems to have forgotten to offer a manual transmission option in the US-market Giulia. What’s more, given Alfa Romeo’s difficulty re-launching in the US market, there’s some question of how well the 350-horsepower Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce will sell here – if it arrives at all.
Still, those looking for a Cadillac ATS with a 3.6L V6 in the future could find themselves with a new, Italian model against which to cross-shop the American luxury car.
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One thing Cadillac President Johan de Nysschen would never consider doing is asking Chevrolet to build a couple of thousand additional LT5 750 hp supercharged 6.2L V8 engines to allow Cadillac to build a ATS-V capable of beating Alfa Romeo and the BMW M3 C5.
I’ve got to give Sergio credit as I never thought his Alfa was more than talk. Also, FCA spend a lot less money on the alpha program then General Motors has Cadillac yet Alpha is nonetheless a fun and solid vehicle. It may not be lightweight, but I’m not sure if that really matters to the average consumer. GM puts a lot of import in building new platforms. Meanwhile, rivals soldier on building very cool machines.
I hope Alpha know how trickles down to both Dodge and Chrysler in the large car segment.
The sales numbers are still not here and Sergio has totally missed his hpneeded production number he said the needed by 2017.
They may be getting press but they still have a ways to go for success.and goals to be met.
This money should have gone into a Dodge and the cars they truly need and lack. Dodge could have been another profit center like Jeep.
FCA has just done a lot of window dressing to try to lure a merger or buy out but they have not fooled anyone as no one has taken the bait.
Cool cars are fine but the boring volume cars or CUVs are what pay the bills and provide stock dividends.
Agreed!
Old Chrysler aka FCA NA has tremendous potential and this has yet to be leveraged by Sergio.
Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep were once big brands. Today, these brands plus Ram present an opportunity for focused, niche brands. Unlike a big full service Chevrolet or Ford, FCA can use Dodge for pure performance/muscle with high margin special edition trims like SRT Demon. They can use Chrysler for “vanilla” vehicles like Pacifica as well as reskinned SUVs not fitting the Jeep ethos: Imagine a value priced Infinity QX 40 riding on Jeep bones taking on CR-V and Equinox or a resurrected PT Cruiser minus the retro vibe challenging Trax.
Sergio looted Chrysler injecting just enough new product into his new profit center in order to prop up Europe while FIAT key markets were mired in the financial crisis.
He also used those profits for Alfa, a brand that I am only fond of provided it’s technology trickle down to Dodge and Chrysler. Alfa (and Masserati) now has a healthy line up respectable enough for a sale price large enough to greatly diminish FCA debt.
Sergio never had love for or planned to rebuild Chrysler Corp. The company is filled with potential beyond Jeep and Ram with it’s finely tuned miniaturized brands, and could eventually challenge Toyota and Ford in the US with the proper leadership.