TURIN – Alfa Romeo is hoping for a big boost in sales with the release of its first compact SUV contender this year.
The Alfa Romeo Tonale is set to be revealed on 8 February and to give us a taste of what to expect, the Italian carmaker has released a short teaser video showing us the front end as well as part of the interior.
Although the frontal image is blacked out, it does at least show us that the vehicle will resemble the Tonale concept car, with its large grille and slim headlights that have triple LED elements in an apparent nod to the SZ of the 1990s.
Although Alfa Romeo has not released much in the way of information on the Tonale, a Polish website called Spiders Web Autoblog claims to have come across some leaked information.
The publication claims that the Alfa Romeo Tonale will measure 4,528mm in length, making it slightly longer than the Jeep Compass, with which it shares a wheelbase and platform.
On the powertrain front, it is expected that most models will be powered by Fiat’s new 1.3-litre turbopetrol engine, with base variants offering around 95kW and an uptuned version boasting around 118kW. There’s also talk of a 2-litre turbopetrol plug-in hybrid model with all-wheel drive and an output in the region of 175kW.
Although the Alfa Romeo Tonale won’t necessarily be cheap, it will provide a more affordable entry into the sporting brand following the discontinuation of the Giulietta hatchback last year. At this stage there’s no word on whether Alfa Romeo will do another compact hatchback, but given the rising popularity of SUVs, we wouldn’t bet on it.
There is talk, however, of a smaller SUV to rival the Volkswagen T-Cross, and this is likely to be based on the Peugeot 2008, now that Fiat is a sibling brand of the French carmaker following the formation of Stellantis.
IOL Motoring
