The return of Alfa Romeo to Malaysia will heralded by the upcoming launch of its Giulia and Stelvio.
After what feels like years of speculation, the day has finally arrived: Alfa Romeo is set to make its comeback here. Now under the stewardship of DLSB Partners, the iconic Italian marque has opened order books for two models to kick things off: the Giulia sedan and the Stelvio SUV.
Now some may be a bit disappointed to know that both the Giulia and Stelvio will be landing locally in the slightly more mundane Veloce trim, which is a step down from the halo Quadrifoglio flavours. In any case though, at least both (these incidentally now decade-old cars) will be arriving in their facelifted guises that debuted in 2022.
The Veloce trim on both models means a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder under the hood, sending 280 hp and 400 Nm through an 8-speed ZF automatic gearbox. Drive goes to the rear wheels in the Giulia and to all four wheels on the Stelvio. Both cars crack off the century sprint in a decently spritely 5.7 seconds, though the SUV does lose 10 km/h off its V-Max relative to the sedan’s 240 km/h top speed.
Kit-wise, both cars come fully specced from Italy. The sumptuous exterior aesthetic of both models is accentuated by a restyled grille with ‘3+3’ Matrix LED adaptive headlights underlined by LED DRLs and 19-inch Teledial alloys which, behind them, hide a Q2 mechanical self-locking differential.
Inside meanwhile, there is an 8.8-inch touchscreen with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, a 12.3-inch customisable fully digital instrument cluster, sport leather seats with dark grey stitching, and a 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system. Both models are further equipped with a suite of ADAS features, including adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist and traffic sign recognition, blind spot monitors, lane keep assist, and driver attention assist.
Unfortunately, any pricing information for either model is still being kept under wraps until their official local launches in January. Word on the street, however, is that the Giulia is estimated to be priced around RM 400,000, with its Stelvio stablemate not too far from that ballpark either.
What is nevertheless confirmed is that interested customers will soon be able to view and purchase their Alfas at their premiere local 3S centre located at TREC Kuala Lumpur. This ‘Casa Alfa Romeo’ will subsequently be joined by two more facilities in Penang and Johor.
To further add some special-ness to the ownership experience, Alfa Romeo Malaysia is also introducing a suite of exclusive perks for its Alfistis. These include ‘La Bella Vita’, a curated lifestyle event; ‘Speed Dating’, an Alfa Romeo-exclusive track day; and ‘Alfa Concierge’, which offers personalised assistance and services to all new Alfa Romeo customers.
And without wanting to forget the existing Alfistis either, Alfa Romeo Malaysia has also introduced the ‘Famiglia Alfa Romeo’ programme. This extends professional support across all Alfa Romeo vehicles, including access to factory-certified technicians, genuine parts, and reliable roadside assistance.
Also, one other thing that has been teased is that the Giulia and Stelvio will eventually be joined by the Junior compact crossover and the Tonale small SUV. Let’s just hope now that there will be as many examples on the road as there will be models in the showrooms.
