LA MOTOR SHOW: Alfa to debut Stelvio SUV in LA

Alfa Romeo will stage the world debut of its long-awaited first-ever SUV in what's expected to be the car's biggest market, at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November.

That's the most likely timing for the global premiere of the Stelvio, a name confirmed by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles boss Sergio Marchionne last month. The news follows comments by Alfa and Maserati chief Harald Wester in Geneva today.

Marchionne told a workers' meeting at an Alfa Romeo production plant in February that the brand will call its inaugural crossover the Stelvio. The vehicle is now 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.

Reiterating his October statement that Maserati will not produce a smaller SUV than Geneva debutante Levante, Wester said the Alfa SUV will make its public debut in late Autumn.

Given the Paris show starts in the first half of the northern hemisphere's Autumn on October 1 and the LA show opens in mid-November – the final month of Autumn – it appears he was referring to the US show.

"We announced – and this is going to be presented I would say in one of the important auto shows in Autumn – a more compact SUV for Alfa Romeo and this is also part of the answer," he told motoring.com.au.

"If you are a group and you have 10 brands like we have, not every brand can do a little bit of everything. So for the time being this is a segment which we don't target right now for Maserati, and we said this very clearly from the beginning.

"We already carry the segment with the Jeep Cherokee.

"We will have an additional product in the segment with the new Alfa, to be presented in late Autumn this year, and for the time being there are no plans for Maserati to further extend our range downwards in the more compact SUV segment."

Alfa used the Swiss show to finally confirm full details of its all-new mid-size Giulia sedan, which enters production on March 14.

Rendered here and codenamed Tipo 949 D-SUV, the Stelvio is based on the same Giorgio platform as the Tipo 963 Giulia. Both models are expected to be available with rear- and all-wheel drive and a range of four-cylinder and V6 petrol and diesel engines, plus Quadrifoglio Verde versions powered by the same twin-turbocharged 2.9-litre V6.

However, Wester would not comment on a further six models promised by 2018 as part of Alfa's five-year business plan. These include a larger, seven-seat Tipo 962 SUV, Spider and Coupe versions of the Giulia, a full-size sports-luxury sedan codenamed Tipo 941, and (eventually) replacements for the Giulietta and the MiTo front-drive hatchbacks.