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Alfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) Name Confirmed, Production Starts in Q4 2016

Fiat Chrysler head honcho Sergio Marchionne recently visited the Stabilimento Fiat di Cassino in Piedimonte San Germano, Italy. There, the 63-year-old chief exec announced two things. One - the Alfa Romeo Giulia starts production on March 14. Two - Alfa Romeo Stelvio is the name of the long-awaited Tipo 949 D-SUV.
Alfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) rendering 8 photos
Photo: Alessandro Masera
Alfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) pre-production prototypeAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) renderingAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) renderingAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) renderingAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) renderingAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) renderingAlfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949 D-SUV) rendering
Why did Sergio choose Stelvio, as reported by linchiestaquotidiano? Stelvio is a lot of things to the Italian-speaking public: a type of cheese, a composer, a film director, a national park, and so on and so forth. But petrolheads know what the Stelvio in this Alfa Romeo’s name is all about - yes, you guessed it - the grand mountain pass in northern Italy.

Top Gear in the Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May era declared that the Stelvio Pass is the greatest driving road in the world, but the three amigos later made up their minds and chose the Transfagarasan Highway in Romania as their favorite driving road. Oh, I nearly forgot - Moto Guzzi sells its own kind of Stelvio, a dual-sport motorcycle with adventure-touring credentials.

What can we learn from the name of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio? Our guess is that Stelvio is a tell-tale sign that the Italian carmaker is serious about the handling prowess of the mid-size SUV. More specifically, its ability to carve corners like a pro, including the 75 hairpin turns scattered along the Stelvio Pass. Without a shadow of a doubt, Stelvio has a much better ring than GiuliaX or Giulia Cross.

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio (Tipo 949) is slated to start production at Cassino in the fourth quarter of the year, which means sales will commence in the first quarter of 2017. Underpinned by a variation of the Giulia mid-size sedan’s Giorgio platform, the Stelvio will be offered with an array of inline-4 and 6-cylinder engines, including turbo diesels and a twin-turbo 2.9-liter V6 for the high-performance Quadrifoglio model.

After the 2017 Alfa Romeo Stelvio, the Italian manufacturer will debut the Tipo 962 C-SUV, Tipo 941 full-size luxury sedan, plus the Tipo 963 Spider and Coupe sports cars.

P.S.: Inspired by the nameplate chosen for the Alfa Romeo SUV, someone at Dacia should baptize the next-generation Dacia Duster the Transfagarasan. The Mercedes-Benz Autobahn, on the other hand, would be fitting for a comfortable grand tourer. If you have more suggestions of car names inspired by roads, hit us with a comment.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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