Alfa Romeo leaks Stelvio

An early production build Alfa Romeo Stelvio has been previewed either by error or design in a video posted on Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' Youtube channel.

The video has since been removed, but take our word for it, at 1:17 in, the terrible Italian promotional film clearly shows the Stelvio mid-build along the production line, as pictured.

It's not known whether the leak was a mistake or deliberate but the low-rent small wheels, lack of chrome and unflattering camera angle hint that capturing the all-new small SUV along the production line was a mistake.

Last week the Italian car maker announced its first SUV will make its global debut at the Los Angeles motor show on November 15.

The news, confirmed in an official Alfa Romeo ‘save the date’ image, complete with a dark silhouette of the Stelvio was, until now, our best look yet at how the Porsche Macan, Jaguar F-PACE and new Audi Q5-rival is shaping up.

Codenamed Tipo 949 D-SUV, the Stelvio is scheduled to start production in the final quarter of 2016 – a year later than originally planned – before going on sale in Europe early in 2017.

Based on the same Giorgio platform as the (Tipo 963) mid-size Giulia sedan, the Stelvio will arrive Down Under sometime in 2017.

Available with rear- and all-wheel drive and a range of four-cylinder and V6 petrol and diesel engines, the SUV line-up will be spearheaded by a 380kW Quadrifoglio Verde (QV) that packs the firm’s twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6.

Already spied in testing in August the QV will see the Stelvio powered by a Ferrari-developed twin-turbo V6 that will go head-to-head with the Macan Turbo and the forthcoming Audi RS Q5.

Watch the video on Carscoops Facebook