New Alfa Romeo Giulia and Stelvio will feature enhanced in-car tech but remain driver focused

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia have always lagged behind rivals when it comes to technology, but the fast-approaching next-generation models are set to make huge leaps forward in this department while retaining the sense of driver focus that customers expect from the Italian firm.

In an exclusive interview with Auto Express, Alfa Romeo’s head of marketing and communication, Cristiano Fiorio, acknowledged that with the current models (which were launched around a decade ago) “sometimes we might perceive that there was still a gap on technology, on ADAS and on some other things”.

But he added: “These two new products fill any gap that there was with our competitors, so we are ready to play the game with all our weapons.”

Naturally, we asked him if these new Alfas would still be driver focused, to which he fired back: “I believe that the cars in general today have too much technology, too many buttons.

“Of course, the development of technology helps a lot, and when it helps to save lives and boost safety, I love it, it’s more than fine. Or there’s technology that is helpful for day-to-day living.

“But then the car has to be driven and I want the pleasure of driving, not the pleasure of playing video game games or watching movies on the infotainment.”

He continued, “The purpose of Alfa Romeo is to offer cars that are nice to drive and which respond to your needs. If you have to understand the technology before driving, that cannot be an Alfa Romeo.

“I have a lot of friends who drive competitor cars (so they’re no longer my best friends!), and they tell me that they probably use 10 per cent of the technology onboard because they are unable to use many things. Yes, maybe they are 50 like I am, but they are not 99, so they should be able to, and that's another bit of the problem.”

Fiorio didn’t reveal any exact details about how the new Stelvio and Giulia will tread the tightrope of balancing technology with driver focus, but pointed to how the team achieved just that with the Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale, which he refers to as the epitome of the brand.

For example, the steering wheel features no buttons at all: “because we said, ‘guys, let's not forget that for Alfa Romeo is about the pleasure of driving’. So, the more pure we can be to this, the better it is, without forgetting the need for technology for safety and for day-to-day life.”

The all-new, second-generation Alfa Romeo Stelvio is due to be revealed later this year, and will be available with a choice of hybrid and pure-electric powertrains, while rivals will include the Audi Q5 and Q6 e-tron, plus the new BMW X3 and iX3.

Meanwhile, the next Alfa Romeo Giulia is slated to appear in 2026, at which point it’ll be able to resume its ongoing battle against the Audi A5 (formerly the A4) and BMW 3 Series.

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