Updated Alfa Romeo Giulia arrives
Higher entry-level price for Italian mid-size sedan, now with new safety and tech featuresA significant update for the Alfa Romeo Giulia has finally arrived in Australia, bringing extra equipment and improved safety systems with a condensed range that now starts higher at $63,950 plus on-road costs.
The Italian-built Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan’s mid-life update was announced overseas in November last year.
It’s understood the delay for the MY20 Giulia, which was expected to arrive much earlier this year, is due to unsold stock of the previous model.
The 2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio – Giulia’s SUV cousin – will arrive in Australia around February 2021.
The higher $63,950 entry price for the Alfa Giulia relates to the new 147kW Sport variant positioned $3050 above the previous Giulia base model.
With the Giulia Super grade also axed, the two remaining variants in the range are the 206kW Giulia Veloce priced at $71,450 plus ORCs, and the range-topping 375kW Giulia Quadrifoglio from $138,950 plus ORCs.
These two higher-tier models are now more affordable, having received price cuts of $1450 and $6950 respectively.
Designed to compete against the leading prestige mid-size sedans such as the BMW 3 Series (from $68,900) and Mercedes-Benz C-Class (from $65,800), the Giulia has attracted only modest sales compared to the popular German nameplates.
But Alfa Romeo is hoping the latest upgrade, headlined by more advanced driver assist features fitted standard, will stimulate more interest.
These include adaptive cruise control, traffic sign recognition with intelligent speed control, active blind spot assist, lane keep assist, traffic jam assist and high beam assist.
Elsewhere, the Giulia gains a new 8.8-inch touch-screen infotainment system (with new rotary controller), a wireless phone charge pad, leather sports seats, tinted windows, 19-inch alloy wheels with red brake callipers, and more.
A new 7.0-inch digital screen for the instrument panel delivers more driving data, while Alfa Romeo says improved material quality in the cabin along with a redesigned steering wheel and a larger central storage bin also enhance the interior.
Other standard features across the Giulia range include bi-Xenon headlamps, keyless entry/start, dual-zone climate control, rain-sensing wipers, rear parking sensors and a reverse parking camera.
The mid-spec Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce adds adaptive suspension, a Veloce sports body kit, dual exhaust outlets, a limited-slip rear differential for improved mid-corner acceleration, and more powerful and adaptive (swivelling) Xenon headlights.
Inside, the Veloce adds ambient cabin lighting and eight-way power-adjustable front seats.
The top-shelf Giulia Quadrifoglio has a Ferrari-tuned twin-turbo V6 engine hooked up to a louder quad-tip Monza exhaust system, bigger brakes, better tyres (Pirelli P Zero Corsa), forged 19-inch alloy wheels and a carbon-fibre roof, bonnet, rear spoiler and side skirts.
Inside, the Quadrifoglio boasts carbon-fibre cabin highlights, a unique QV steering wheel and sports seats with lashings of leather and Alcantara. The Italian hero car also gets an upgraded Harman Kardon sound system.
In terms of powertrains, Alfa Romeo hasn’t changed the recipe, the Giulia Sport (147kW/330Nm) and Veloce (206kW/400Nm) using carryover 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engines.
The Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio comes with a fire-breathing 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 (375kW/600Nm) that gifts the Italian missile with an eye-watering top speed of 307km/h and a super-rapid 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.9 seconds.
All models are rear-wheel drive and come equipped with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
There are no major visual differences to the exterior of the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia.
Like all Alfa Romeo vehicles, the new Giulia is covered by a three-year/150,000km warranty, which is on par with BMW but not as strong as Mercedes’ five-year warranty.
With just 100 sales thus far in 2020, less than half of what it sold over the same period in 2019 and significantly below 3 Series (2130) and C-Class (1921) to the end of August, the Giulia holds only a 1.3 per cent share of the medium luxury car segment.
How much does the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia cost?
Sport – $63,950
Veloce – $71,450
Giulia Quadrifoglio – $138,950
* Prices exclude on-road costs
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