Alfa Romeo confirms all-electric plans for 2027
Italian sports-luxury brand Alfa Romeo has confirmed it will go all-electric by 2027 – mostly.
The move was confirmed the boss of parent company Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, during a presentation last week to announce first-half financial results for 2021.
“Alfa will electrify in 2027,” Tavares confirmed, at the same time as he revealed fellow Stellantis European premium brands Lancia and DS were also going all-electric from 2024 (Lancia will launch only BEVs from 2026 and DS will launch only BEVs from 2024).
“The three premium brands are on a very strong electrification journey,” he said.
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But it appears Alfa Romeo will still produce some ICE vehicles for certain parts of the world beyond that 2027 deadline.
In a presentation given to investors at the same time Alfa Romeo left the door open for ICE beyond 2027 in some markets, claiming the brand would be “100% BEV in 2027 in basecamps of Enlarged Europe, North America and China”.
It’s unclear where Australia fits into those 2027 EV plans.
A spokesperson for Alfa Romeo Australia said “we are very excited by the commitment and focus Stellantis is putting on electrification” and that “we believe the demand and acceptance of electric vehicles will accelerate in Australia and New Zealand and we are currently looking at which products will work best for each country”.
But no confirmation yet on whether Australia will join those other markets in going all EV for Alfa Romeo.
“We look forward to sharing our electrification plan in due course,” the spokesperson said.
Alfa Romeo is currently the only one of those three Stellantis brands offered for sale in Australia.
The 111-year old Italian brand has been undergoing a slow resurgence in recent years, offering high-performance petrol-engined vehicles.
This is another change of direction, albeit one many car makers are planning as governments encourage EV uptake and penalise or ban ICE vehicles.
A schedule out to the first half of 2023 shown during the presentation listed only one electrified Alfa being launched, which will be the plug-in hybrid Tonale.
Alfa Romeo’s first electrified model is listed as launching in 2022. The Tonale had been originally expected in 2021, but was delayed to improve its performance.
UK magazine Autocar reported in June Alfa’s future model plans included small SUV called Brennero that will be both ICE and EV, a revival of the GTV as an electric four-door coupe flagship, a possible resuscitation of the Spider and a replacement for the Mito mini-car.
The new vehicles will be underpinned by Stellantis group platforms, including the STLA family of BEV architectures announced last month at its EV Day.
The future of the current ICE-powered Stelvio SUV and Giulia sold in Australia sedan is yet to be clarified. The Giulietta small car and 4C sports car will soon wind up.
The presentation document listed “enlarged Europe, North America and China” as Alfa’s core markets.
Right-hand drive is understood to be an ongoing part of the Alfa product plan and Stellantis local boss Kevin Flynn has been vocal in his support of the brand.
The first BEV Jeep model, tipped to be a small cross-over, was listed on the schedule as launching in the first half of 2023.
The schedule also included four electrified Citroens, one Dodge PHEV, three Opels and fives Peugeots.
All up Stellantis will present 11 BEV models over the next 24 months, along with 10 plug-in hybrids.
Notably, American luxury brand Chrysler had no models on the schedule, but nor did Lancia, which means an electrified rush for the Italian brand from H2 2023.
As we reported recently, a Chrysler EV was shown during the Stellantis EV Day and Tavares has recently described the brand as a “pillar” of the group going forward.
