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Alfa Romeo Tonale Morphs Into Compact Pickup, Would It Be Great With a Q4 PHEV Setup?

The sporty premium Italian automaker has finally kicked itself out of lethargy over the past few months, and the momentum is going strong. Both in the real world, as well as across the imaginative realm of virtual automotive artists, as it turns out.
Alfa Romeo Tonale pickup truck rendering by Theottle 20 photos
Photo: theottle / YouTube
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Over in the real world, Alfa Romeo kicked off this mini-revival almost a year ago with the introduction of the Tonale compact crossover SUV, now available also with “efficient sportiness,” aka a plug-in hybrid powertrain and Q4 all-wheel drive. Then it was time for yet another Giulia and Stelvio update, with the 2023 model year changes bringing styling and tech goodies to the ‘old saloon gal and high-riding chap.’

And the momentum is going strong into early 2023, as the Italian company is preparing to reveal its first true sports car in over a decade and a half – the heir of the 8C Competizione’s supercar crown. Switching our attention to the dreamy parallel universe of digital content creators, things are looking equally cool over there, as well.

But while some pixel masters only have eyes for the next-generation neo-retro alternate design of the Alfa Romeo Giulia – both in sedan and station wagon form, and complete with hypothetical Quadrifoglio variants – the virtual artist better known as Theottle on social media, continues to show a lot of CGI love for Alfa Romeo’s smaller nameplates.

Recently, the CGI expert stole a lot of styling DNA from the entire current family (Tonale, Giulia, Stelvio) to properly bring back to life the Giulietta – first as a hatchback just like the defunct modern incarnation, and then as a traditional four-door saloon just like its classic predecessors. Now, though, the author is again feeling the passion for modified Tonale ideas.

First, there was a digital Alfa Romeo Tonale GTA that did not care even for a second about the rumor mill’s opinion that a Tonale Quadrifoglio crossover SUV is not in the OEM cards. Secondly, now it is also time to meet with the Alfa Romeo Tonale ‘Ute’ in the artist’s latest behind-the-scenes making-of video embedded below.

Alas, that moniker is improperly used, as the ‘Ute’ label is attributed to coupe utility passenger cars. Instead, what we are dealing with here is a most logical, elongated Tonale four-door compact pickup truck – if Alfa Romeo ever fancied a brawl with the North American Hyundai Santa Cruz and electrified Ford Maverick, that is.

And, just in case the OEM ever thinks about this, we also have the perfect antidote to the ritzy yet ICE success of the South Korean unibody pickup as well as the mega popularity of the affordable yet electrified Ford Maverick hybrid. That would be this hypothetical Alfa Romeo Tonale compact pickup truck equipped with the PHEV powertrain and Q4 AWD!

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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
Aurel Niculescu profile photo

Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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