Photo: Reichel Car Design
It’s a good thing Alfa Romeo finally discontinued the Giulietta. Personally, I never liked it. It looked good enough from certain angles but that’s about it. The interior always felt cheap and the ride/handling nowhere near as sporty as the Italian brand might suggest. Goodbye, you fake posh re-badged Fiat Bravo.
Well ok then. Glad I got that out of my system, because I would really like to see Alfa Romeo give it a proper go in the premium compact hatchback segment, which could still happen sometime in the next few years.
Officially though, the Italian brand will be focusing on the upcoming Tonale crossover, after realizing (later than most carmakers), that compact SUVs sell like hotcakes, whereas sedans and hatchbacks with unestablished credentials, not so much.
As for what an all-new, next-generation Giulietta might look like, this rendering by Bernhard Reichel does a great job from a creative standpoint. The artist pictured a 5-door hatchback with a powerful stance, muscular fenders and an overall clean design. It already looks more expensive than the real Giulietta and would hypothetically rival the likes of the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
It would, of course, need to feature some form of electrification, I’m thinking plug-in hybrid at the very least – although fully electric would be best, long term.
There is still value in owning a compact hatchback, especially in Europe where they represent the perfect compromise between a supermini like a Polo and something midsize, like a Passat. Some people don’t need that much size but would still rather drive something relatively comfortable over longer journeys. It's literally why everyone loves the Golf, Focus and so on.
Of course, as an Alfa Romeo and a premium product, a next-generation Giulietta would be even more enticing than your run-of-the-mill Golf, featuring higher quality materials inside and more dynamic driving characteristics.
Officially though, the Italian brand will be focusing on the upcoming Tonale crossover, after realizing (later than most carmakers), that compact SUVs sell like hotcakes, whereas sedans and hatchbacks with unestablished credentials, not so much.
As for what an all-new, next-generation Giulietta might look like, this rendering by Bernhard Reichel does a great job from a creative standpoint. The artist pictured a 5-door hatchback with a powerful stance, muscular fenders and an overall clean design. It already looks more expensive than the real Giulietta and would hypothetically rival the likes of the Audi A3, BMW 1 Series and Mercedes-Benz A-Class.
It would, of course, need to feature some form of electrification, I’m thinking plug-in hybrid at the very least – although fully electric would be best, long term.
There is still value in owning a compact hatchback, especially in Europe where they represent the perfect compromise between a supermini like a Polo and something midsize, like a Passat. Some people don’t need that much size but would still rather drive something relatively comfortable over longer journeys. It's literally why everyone loves the Golf, Focus and so on.
Of course, as an Alfa Romeo and a premium product, a next-generation Giulietta would be even more enticing than your run-of-the-mill Golf, featuring higher quality materials inside and more dynamic driving characteristics.
Google News