Report: Alfa Romeo Plans a BMW 5-series Rival

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It’s always fun to try and fill in the blanks of FCA’s future-model planning, with the company having announced that it will be launching eight new Alfa models by 2020, all spun from the same “Giorgio” platform that the Italian brand has spent nearly 5 billion euro developing. So far only one of those new models is in the open, the recently introduced Giulia (pictured), so there’s plenty of scope for trying to work out what the other models might be.

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Alfa executives confirmed to us that a compact SUV—the Stelvio—will be next in line; it’s a car that’s vital to Alfa’s prospects on both sides of the Atlantic, and will share most of its mechanical architecture with the Giulia. Now reports are suggesting that a larger sedan will follow this, aimed squarely at the BMW 5-series, Mercedes-Benz E-class, and Audi A6, with Auto Express taking a rendered run at predicting what it might look like.

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Like the Giulia it will offer a choice of rear-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and the lower reaches of the range almost certainly will be powered by the same turbocharged four-cylinder engines that have been produced for its smaller sister.

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The sedan is also all but certain to have a high-powered variant, most likely using the same twin-turbo, 505-hp, 2.9-liter V-6 as the Giulia Quadrifoglio. Indeed, Alfa’s head of product development Philippe Krief confirmed at the launch of the Giulia that there is potential to get even more power out of this engine than in the Quadrifoglio, potentially even enough to make an M5-rivalling version of the bigger car. Based on previous conversations with Alfa engineers we also believe it’s likely we’ll see a less-powerful V-6 to fill the gap between the twin-turbo and the 276-hp 2.0-liter turbo four.

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In Europe, where some 80 percent of the segment is powered by four-cylinder diesels, the use of the new 2.2-liter Alfa turbo-diesel is a certainty, with Auto Express also reporting that a six-cylinder diesel is also under development

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• 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia: Same Car, Same Sexy Styling, But with 229 Fewer Horsepower

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• Alfa Romeo SUV to Be Called Stelvio

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• Alfa Romeo Giulia: Reviews, Specs, Pricing, and More

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With Alfa predicting it will ultimately produce 400,000 vehicles a year from the Giorgio architecture, there’s still plenty more news to come.

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from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com/report-alfa-romeo-plans-a-bmw-5-series-rival/