What is it?
Four years have passed since a revitalised Alfa Romeo first unleashed its fantastic Giulia Quadrifoglio on the motoring masses. How excited we were: here was Alfa’s first rear-wheel-drive model in a quarter of a century. Not only did it turn out to be a bona fide driver’s car, but it was also quite simply the best car Alfa had launched in a generation.
Despite all of this, things weren’t exactly rosy in Turin over the following years. Sales struggled in Europe and the US; the Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV with which it shared its newly developed Giorgio platform didn’t perform as well as expected; and Alfa’s plans to field seven models by 2023 were significantly pared back. Considering the billions of pounds parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles had poured into the brand under charismatic former CEO Sergio Marchionne, that must have been concerning. Perhaps the forthcoming PSA Group merger will turn things around for the better.
In the meantime, however, Alfa has treated the Giulia Quadrifoglio to a minor mid-life refresh. So there’s a new touchscreen infotainment system, and a full suite of advanced driver assistance systems has been introduced, too. The material quality of the cabin has also been lifted ever so slightly. An Akrapovic exhaust and exposed carbon roof are now both available as options - although our test car had neither.
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Alfa has treated the Giulia Quadrifoglio to a minor mid-life refresh.
I was referring to Alfa's
But it doesn't sell in the UK. This is a market where manufacturers have to rebrand their products to appeal to local brand tastes. And its not just cars.
The Alfa badge
I know the Alfa die hards and some car enthusiasts online insist otherwise, but the more recent history/record has pretty much destroyed the appeal of Alfa's badge for the wider car buying public. That's just a reality. That said the latest batch of cars - Giulia and Stelvio in particular - are excellent (reliability permitting) so who knows, this might be the start of the Alfa badge revival.