An Alfa Romeo concept coming next year will hold the clue to its electric car future

After a tumultuous few years, Alfa Romeo is gearing up for its electrifying future, and a concept car to be revealed next year will guide the way for the Italian marque.

But don't expect it to be a halo sports car in the same vein as 2003's 8C concept or the GTV teased back in 2018.

Alfa Romeo head of product Daniel Guzzafame said the Italian brand does not need a sports car flagship to "set the direction" of future designs. Instead, the company will opt for a “real object, not linked with the future”.

“Something is coming that will of course not be the [exact] design of the coming cars, but to set the direction in terms of design, in terms of technology, in terms of software,” he explained during the international launch of the Tonale PHEV.

Believed to be arriving next year or at the beginning of 2024, Alfa will then look to build a showroom of “coherent” products around the concept and its themes.

According to Mr Guzzafame, Alfa Romeo is preparing to use the concept instead of a flagship sports car to steer the direction because a flagship vehicle “means you are constrained to start from the flagship, and then develop everything else”. 

“Maybe the flagship for Alfa Romeo (for example) is a cabrio. It doesn’t make sense to put the cabrio in a showroom if you don’t have the rest to sell. First, you need to build the showroom, then you put in the cabrio,” he said.

“That's why we need something to set the direction that's not necessarily linked to the first product that you put (out).”

Under new owners Stellantis, Alfa Romeo's bold electric vehicle vision is simple; remove all petrol and diesel engines from its lineup by 2027. 

The Tonale PHEV is Alfa's first hybrid model.

However, before the brand shifts to EVs, it will use hybrid technology like that seen in the 2023 Tonale PHEV to bridge the gap over the next five years.

Its first fully electric vehicle is expected in 2024 and is set to be a smaller SUV sitting beneath the Tonale.

The range of electric crossovers we can expect from there includes electric replacements for the Tonale and Stelvio, as well as a larger SUV competing with the Volvo EX90 and BMW IX.

Mr Guzzafame confirmed its sports sedan, Giulia, is also a part of Alfa Romeo's electric future. 

“You need a Giulia, you need a Stelvio, you need a Tonale,” he said. “Then you need something bigger."