2023 Alfa Romeo Giulia Veloce Rwd on 2040-cars

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Marchionne threatens to move Alfa production out of Italy

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne was unsurprisingly frank when asked by reporters about potential investments in Italian manufacturing for Alfa Romeo and Maserati, giving the Italian government the ultimatum, "Italy should decide if they want [Alfa Romeo's relaunch] to happen here or not as Fiat and Chrysler have several alternatives." Them's fightin' words.
Fiat's issue with the government stems directly from its courtroom clashes with the Fiom labor union. The two are currently embroiled in proceedings over longer shifts and shorter breaks, as Fiom has so far refused to sign a new contract citing revised labor laws that it says are anti-union.
According to Bloomberg, Fiat will be spending over $2.5 billion on development of eight new Alfas and six new Maseratis, in a bid to wrest some of the luxury pie away from BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. But that's only going to happen if the government is willing to play ball and make life easier on Fiat.

2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio Review & Buying Guide | Small but significant changes

The 2020 Alfa Romeo Stelvio is a luxury SUV aimed at folks who want something different – not necessarily to be flashy, but just to stand out in a crowd of grey Audis and black BMWs. Besides its badge and decidedly un-German styling, the Stelvio drives like no other luxury SUV. It has quick steering with great feel and excellent road holding that provide the sort of involved driving experience you probably don't expect from a high-riding crossover – and that goes triple for the outrageous, 505-horsepower Quadrifoglio that is without question the most desirable and competitive Stelvio. However, to this point, choosing the Stelvio also meant putting up with some overtly cheap interior pieces, an arcane infotainment system, few accident avoidance technologies and a poor reliability reputation. As you'll read below, all but the reliability issue have been addressed for 2020 – and only time will tell if the reliability's been improved. These changes are welcome and make the Stelvio much easier to make a case for getting something different. What's new with Stelvio for 2020? The interior's cheap and wobbly switchgear, which so obviously stood out in the 2019 Stelvio, gets a welcome upgrade for 2020. The electronic shifter is a little more solid in action, it's now covered in stitched perforated leather and surrounded by a metallic housing festooned with a little Italian flag. The electronic parking brake has been relocated to the left of it. The center console has also been redesigned to accommodate a wireless charging pad. Knobs for the "dna" drive mode selector, volume/track and the infotainment control knob feel more solid, while the latter is ringed by a nice knurled metal finish. That knob, however, has become a redundant control interface as the 8.8-inch infotainment display is now touch-operated as well. It also has new graphics and a new interface with a configurable home screen. It's a definite improvement over what was there before. The Stelvio also gets more advanced accident avoidance tech, most of which are among the best-executed on the market. The base price has also gone down by about $1,000 for 2020 despite these upgrades. That's rare. What's the Stelvio's interior and in-car technology like? Despite its many worthwhile upgrades for 2020, the Stelvio's interior still doesn't possess the same luxurious look and feel you'll find in an Audi, BMW, Mercedes, Porsche or Volvo.

Alfa Romeo Stelvio Luggage Test | How much cargo space?

The Alfa Romeo Stelvio is quite obviously more about Sport than Utility, especially the high-octane Quadrifoglio you see here resplendent in Alfa Rosso paint. Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from its luggage-hauling potential. After all, according to the specs, it has only 18.5 cubic-feet of space behind the raised back seat, which is quite simply terrible. That's the same as a Jeep Renegade, which is considerably smaller on the outside. Based on past luggage tests of SUVs with a comparable cargo number, there's no way all the bags from my garage will fit. In fact, there's a good chance multiple bags would be staying at home or riding on people's laps.  Well, let's put that assumption to the test.  Here's what the Stelvio has going for it. Sure looks a lot bigger than a Renegade. Actually, it looks bigger than the Range Rover Evoque, which has 21.5 cubic feet. As you can see, this particular Stelvio came equipped with a cargo rail system and net. Those clasps are easily removed by lifting up on the little handle and moving into that wider part of the track. Now, you'll note that the Stelvio has a cargo cover like virtually all SUVs, but this one is a little different in that it's in two pieces. A smaller one that rolls out from a cartridge aft of the back seat, and a semi-rigid piece that connects to the liftgate.  As always, I started off by keeping the cargo cover(s) in place when trying to stuff as much of my luggage as possible in the back. As a refresher, I use two mid-size roller suitcases that would need to be checked in at the airport (26 inches long, 16 wide, 11 deep), two roll-aboard suitcases that just barely fit in the overhead (24L x 15W x 10D), and one smaller roll-aboard that fits easily (23L x 15W x 10D). I also include my wife's fancy overnight bag just to spruce things up a bit (21L x 12W x 12D). As it turns out, the cover cartridge didn't impede loading at all. I'm guessing because the reel is smaller, but either way, this is a real benefit. It means you don't have to find someplace to store the damn cargo cover if you're picking someone up at the airport, for instance, and discover their bags are too big.  However, you'll note (maybe) that my wife's fancy bag is missing from this luggage Tetris ensemble. That's because it got caught on the rigid cargo cover attached to the tailgate when placed atop the bag on the right. OK, then, let's remove that. Basically, you just yank the thing out. Not too complicated.