Cheaper Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV “easily” procured

Alfa Romeo Australia has declared its interest in releasing more affordable versions of the new 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale PHEV, pending local market reaction to the single variant released today for almost $80,000.

Speaking to Australian media last month, Stellantis Australia small and compact segment product manager Bridget Thomson wouldn’t rule out a cheaper Tonale PHEV variant and said that it wouldn’t be hard to secure such a vehicle if the market demanded it.

“Wouldn’t rule it out,” she said when asked about the prospects of a cheaper Tonale PHEV.

“Nothing to confirm today, but I guess we’re going in, seeing what the reaction is from the market and we can very easily react if that… becomes available.”

Just one plug-in hybrid Tonale is now available in Australia and, like other brands, Alfa has positioned it right at the top of its small SUV range – almost $20,000 upstream of the mid-range Veloce Hybrid.

This hefty price premium grabbed headlines when it was first announced in July last year and has continued drawing questions ever since, but Alfa has defended the decision and justified it on the basis of elevated performance and differing equipment levels, even though it shares the Veloce variant nameplate with the mid-range (plugless) hybrid.

“I think it’s really key to know that the PHEV variant does include the sunroof and the Lusso Pack as standard, so standalone that Lusso Pack is $5500 MSRP and the sunroof is $2500 MSRP and once you take that down the premium between the hybrid and plug-in hybrid really does reduce,” Thomson said.

“And what we’re seeing so far is those customers buying Veloce Hybrids are speccing the cars up.

“So, although on paper is does look like quite a big jump, when you look into it, it kind of narrows down a bit more.”

Thomson went on to reference the fact that PHEVs are exempt from the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT), which trims the margin down even further.

“When you take that into account as well, those customers – either fleet customers who already have access to that FBT but there are also novated lease customers that can take advantage of that as well – the price point does become very, very competitive when you’re looking at the two vehicles side-by-side,” she said.

With all these factors in play, Alfa executives don’t believe there’s a big difference between the Tonale Hybrid and Tonale PHEV audiences apart from their preferred form of electrification.

The 1.6-litre turbo-diesel powertrain offered in the Tonale in other markets was ruled out for Australia on the basis of local (premium compact SUV) segment trends, which have seen a steady transition away from diesel in favour of electrification.

There’s been no official word on if or when we’ll see the zero-emission Tonale EV in local showrooms, but given the Jeep Avenger will be offered here in the second half of 2024, there’s a reasonable chance Alfa will join Australia’s growing EV scene at some point too – certainly by 2027, by which time the Italian brand has promised to become all-EV.

Stellantis Australia corporate communications boss Tracie Stoltenberg said Alfa Romeo was pleased with the Tonale’s sales performance so far, with 365 units delivered in 2023 – more than double any other Alfa product despite only being released mid-year – making it the key driver behind the brand’s 25 per cent sales growth last year.

“We’re pleased with where the brand is growing and how it’s growing,” she said. “Being up 25 per cent is a lot of growth for us.”

How much does the 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale cost?
Ti Hybrid – $50,900
Veloce Hybrid – $58,900
Veloce Plug-In Hybrid Q4 – $78,500
* Prices exclude on-road costs

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