Alfa's SUV design a conundrum

Hampered with a three-model lineup, Alfa has pinned its hopes on the 2013 arrival of the Jeep Compass-based SUV to help it surge back into global significance and profit after years in the doldrums.

However, with Fiat boss, Sergio Marchionne, sending its sister car, the upcoming Giulietta, back to the design drawing board, there are fears its design philosophy might also have hampered the as-yet-unnamed SUV.

With both the SUV and the Giulietta locked in as key cogs in his bid to take Alfa Romeo out of its doldrums and back into North America, Marchionne has already demonstrated to his design team that he won't accept second best.

It will arrive in the midst of a huge squabble between the BMW X3, the Audi Q5 and the Mercedes-Benz GLK, though Audi is likely to throw a swoopier Q4 into the mix by 2013 as well.

Alfa has been struggled along with just the MiTo, the Giulietta and the aging, heavy and profit-proof 159 on its books, though it will add the carbon-tubbed 4C coupe as its North American spearhead late next year.

The addition of the SUV, which shares its core architecture with the Compass and the Patriot, will be a boost, especially given it will be built at Fiat's Mirafiori plant in Torino from late next year.

To be built in both all-wheel drive and front-drive versions, it will be powered by a four-cylinder, direct-injection, turbo-charged petrol four cylinder engine with 147kW, the strong 2.0-litre JTDm turbo-diesel four and a 202kW version of Chrysler's 3.3-litre Pentastar V6.

Marchionne is hoping for an additional 100,000 cars a year from Alfa's SUV, which he hopes will boost the brand's total sales to 280,000.

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