Named after a mountain pass in the Italian Alps, Alfa Romeo's debut crossover, the 2018 Stelvio, bowed Wednesday Los Angeles.
DETROIT -- Named after a mountain pass in the Italian Alps, Alfa Romeo's debut crossover, the 2018 Stelvio, bowed Wednesday in Los Angeles.
With the Stelvio, FCA's Alfa Romeo brand, still very limited in the U.S., will look to tap into Americans' appetite for trucks, crossovers and SUVs.
The all-wheel-drive crossover will come as Stelvio and Stelvio Ti models, with a 2.0-liter, turbo engine that delivers 280 horsepower and 360 lb.-ft. of torque.
There is also a Stelvio Quadrifoglio version of the SUV, equipped with a 2.9-liter turbo V-6 that gives it a fairly ridiculous 505 horsepower and 443 lb.-ft. of torque, and a top speed of 177 miles per hour.
The Stelvio is built on the relatively new Giorgio platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan, which made its North American debut a year ago in L.A.
Arriving in showrooms sometime next year, the 2018 Alfa Romeo Stelvio is being built at FCA's Cassino, Italy plant. Pricing hasn't been announced.
Through the first 10 months of 2016, the Alfa Romeo brand has sold just 441 vehicles in the U.S., including seven Giulia sedans and 434 Alfa 4C roadsters. That represents a sales decline of 22 percent from the 569 units the brand sold in the states through October last year, when it sold 569 models of the Alfa 4C and the Giulia was not yet available for sale.