Alfa Romeo Stelvio, Giulia Cash Machines for FCA US

LOS ANGELES – FCA US unveils the Alfa Romeo Stelvio, a performance-luxury CUV the Italian-American automaker hopes will boost company profits in a lucrative and growing market segment, as well as spur interest in the brand among buyers unaware of its 105-year history.

“It will help our business and help our sales and help our profitability,” Alfa Romeo chief Reid Bigland tells WardsAuto after introducing the Stelvio here.

The Stelvio, due in Europe early next year and the U.S. in the second quarter of 2017, arrives at a time when FCA US is trimming back its car offerings to focus more on the growing pickup, CUV and SUV market.

The midsize CUV also fortifies the company's position in luxury vehicles, giving the Alfa Romeo brand a fourth entry to its showroom after the Giulia sedan, 4C sports coupe and convertible.

Light truck sales are up 7.5% so far this year to 8.6 million units from 8.1 million last year, while luxury sales have ticked up 0.8% to 1.83 million from 1.81 million, according to WardsAuto data. Both segments historically generate significantly higher margins than mainstream cars.

“This trend to (trucks) has been going on for the last five years and if anything it is continuing to accelerate,” Bigland says. “We’re very well positioned with respect to the premium brands at FCA to react to these market shifts.”

Drilling down further, Bigland says the addition of the Giulia and the Stelvio in the premium performance segment gives the brand wide coverage.

“We’re putting our eggs in both baskets,” he says. “With those two products, excluding the 4C, we will have 43% of the premium-performance segment covered.”

The automaker has not disclosed pricing on the Stelvio, or the ’17 Giulia arriving next month to U.S. shores, but expectations are they will start at around $40,000 for base models with an all-aluminum 2.0L 4-cyl. turbocharged gasoline engine making 280 hp and 306 lb.-ft. (414 Nm) of torque.

In the Stelvio and Stelvio Ti, the 4-banger offers a top speed of 144 mph (232 km/h).

But the Stelvio Quadrifoglio, which occupies the top of the model lineup, receives a 2.9L bi-turbo V-6 to deliver a best-in-class 505 hp, 443 lb.-ft. (600 Nm) of torque and send it from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 3.9 seconds. Top speed is 177 mph (285 km). All-wheel-drive is standard on the Quadrifoglio.

Bigland expects the class-leading numbers for the Stelvio line, as well as drum-tight driving dynamics, will spur interest among enthusiasts. Other luxury shoppers will be drawn to its Italian styling flair, he says.

But at the end of the day, the Alfa Romeo brand has been absent from the U.S. market for 20 years. Bigland admits a marketing challenge lies ahead, to a degree, but suggests that unlike reviving luxury brands in the U.S. such as Cadillac and Lincoln his Alf Romeo unit carries little baggage.

“We’re going to need to amp up our marketing in 2017, when the products start to arrive,” he says. “There is a whole generation that not heard of Alfa Romeo.

“This is a European brand we are reintroducing,” he adds. “We need to get our marketing spooled up and deliver on a unique proposition.”

The Stelvio and the Giulia share FCA’s all-new Giorgio platform, an architecture expected to spawn a number of future models for several of the automaker’s brands globally. Bigland stops short of saying what will come next.

“Obviously, lots of possibilities with that Giorgio platform when you look at the chassis, the structure (and) the driving dynamics. It’s a real gem”

However, Alfa Romeo’s new entries in North America next year will spur activity within the brand’s dealer footprint, which stands at about 155 stores in the U.S. and 20 in Canada. Many of them are paired with Maserati, FCA’s other luxury unit.

“We will grow the distribution network over next 18 to 24 months as products hit the market (to) about 200 to 250. But we’ll take it one step at a time.”

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