Giulia wagon reportedly on the way from Alfa

Australians might still be waiting for Alfa Romeo's much-anticipated Giulia sports sedan to arrive here next February, but reports emerging from Europe are insistent a station wagon version of the prestige rear-wheel drive Italian mid-sizer is under development.

According to Automotive News, the wagon – or Sportwagon in Alfa-speak -- will launch in Europe late in 2017, adding a sales boost in a market where premium load luggers are still very popular.

No details of the car’s potential carrying capacity or powertrain options were offered in the story.

Locally, Alfa Romeo is saying little about the prospect of the Giulia wagon, apart from that it sounds like it’s a nice idea.

“There’s no official confirmation that such a model exists,” Fiat Chrysler Australia senior manager, communications, Glenn Butler told motoring.com.au. “But we’d look at if it was available.”

Sales of premium wagons in Australia are tiny compared to SUVs, which is why you’ll find few of the former and not such a range of the latter in upmarket Australian new-car showrooms.

But the Giulia’s logical rivals all have a presence in the segment here. BMW still offers the 3 Series Touring and Mercedes-Benz the C-Class Estate. There’s also an Audi A4 Avant, although that car doesn’t come in rear-wheel drive.

The development of a Giulia wagon is not necessarily a surprise, it just hasn’t been officially listed as part of the much-publicised future product line-up for Alfa, which has committed to launching eight new models by 2020.

The Giulia starts the whole process, debuting the Giorgio rear/all-wheel drive architecture they are all expected to be based on.

Next up will be the Stelvio SUV that breaks cover at the Los Angeles motor show next month. Two more SUVs are planned along with Spider and Coupe versions of the Giulia, a larger sedan and a replacement for the Giulietta small car.

All this activity is designed to deliver Alfa 150,000 sales by 2018, a figure significantly downgraded from the 400,000 originally declared publicly a few years ago.

But right now FCA is focussed on the launch of the sedan, which is scheduled for February 2017.

“Last word from the factory was we are still on schedule,” confirmed Butler.  “But we have not announced what models will come to Australia.

“Discussions are still ongoing with Italy on specification and what we can take and what we can sell.”

The line-up will be headed by the rip-roaring 375kW 2.9-litre V6 QV model, but a variety of other models including mainstream 147kW 2.0-litre turbo-petrol and 137kW 2.2-litre turbo-diesels, and the all-wheel drive 205kW Veloce Q4 — revealed at the Paris motor show last month — are under consideration.

If there is a question mark over any of those models making it here, the diesel would probably be the debatable one.