Alfa Giulietta cut to $25k drive-away

AUSTRALIAN buyers can now drive away in an Alfa Romeo Giulietta for $25,000, as the Italian brand’s local parent company continues its bold move towards the mainstream.

Rather than trim the price of existing variants, Alfa’s factory importer has instead added two new entry level variants to the range, respectively called the Giuletta and Giuletta Progression. Existing variants will soldier on with the same prices as before.

The move cuts the price of entry to the Giulietta range by well over $5000 - the starting price for the range was $29,350, for the Distinctive variant that now becomes a mid-level offering. But in reality this equates to a few thousand dollars more once the requisite on-road costs are added.

Keep in mind, also, that the Distinctive has only been at that price point since February this year, when Alfa gave it a price snip of more than $7000.

The new manual-only base version actually has a list price of $24,550, but most additional on-road costs and taxes will be absorbed in order to achieve the headlining $25,000 drive-away figure.

The new Progression, meanwhile, will start at $27,450 plus on-road costs in petrol/manual guise (the drive-away deal applies only to the base), or $29,450 for the automatic version. A diesel engine will also be offered, priced from $33,350 with a standard six-speed auto.

The Distinctive will now start at $31,350 (the $2000 cheaper manual gearbox option has been dropped), with the diesel auto again $35,250. The flagship 173kW QV hot hatch remains at $39,150.

Today’s announcement, forecast several months ago, is just the latest in a series of price cuts introduced by the Fiat Chrysler group’s Australian factory importer. Fiat Chrysler is Alfa’s parent company.

The company recently trimmed the price of entry to the Fiat 500, as well as the Alfa Giuletta’s smaller MiTo sibling. It also launched the Freemont people-mover from a sharp $27,000 drive-away.

Recently appointed Fiat Chrysler Australia CEO Veronica Johns – who last month made headlines as the first Australian woman to run a car company’s operations Down Under – said the sharp Giuletta starting point would grab the attention of buyers.

“Earlier this year we outlined a new pricing structure for the Fiat and Alfa Romeo brands to make these iconic Italian vehicles more affordable and more accessible to the Australian market,” she said.

“The introduction of an expanded Giulietta range is the next step in our repositioning program for Alfa Romeo and we’re confident the significant improvements we’ve made to the value equation for this vehicle line will attract the attention of new car buyers.”

The Group will no doubt rely on the desirability of the Alfa Romeo brand, since the price of entry remains a touch higher than fellow Europeans such as the new Volkswagen Golf 7 and Opel Astra.

The $25k base variant will be powered by a newly added 88kW/206Nm 1.4-litre turbo-petrol engine matched solely with a six-speed manual gearbox (with hill holder and idle-stop). Combined fuel consumption is listed as 6.4 litres per 100km, and the zero to 100km/h sprint takes 9.4 seconds.

Standard features include 16-inch steel wheels with multi-spoke wheel covers, a six-speaker sound system with Bluetooth connectivity, steering wheel-mounted radio and phone controls, rain-sensing wipers and dusk-ensing headlights.

The new Progression is powered by a more potent 125kW/250Nm version of the same 1.4 petrol (the same as existing versions) matched to either six-speed manual or six-speed TCT automatic transmissions, consuming as little as 5.2L/100km and cutting the 0-100km/h dash to 7.8s.

The diesel offering, meanwhile, is a punchy 125kW/3350Nm 2.0-litre unit available only with a six-speed TCT automatic. Fuel consumption is listed as a low 4.5L/100km.

Additional features over the base include 16-inch alloy wheels, driver’s seat electric lumbar adjustment, electric folding exterior mirrors and a rear seat centre armrest.

The Distinctive versions ave the same powertrains but add 17-inch alloy wheels, front fog lights, chrome highlights, an alarm, rear parking sensors, automatic dual-zone climate control, a humidity and odour sensor, rear seat air vents, an electro-chromic interior rear-view mirror, TomTom navigation with vehicle integration, electric folding exterior mirrors, an eight-speaker sound system and more upmarket Competizione cloth seat trim.

The flagship 173kW/340Nm QV hot hatch – short, incidentally, for Quadrifoglio Verde – adds 18-inch alloy wheels, red brake calipers, dark-tinted privacy glass, a unique dash panel, a Bose sound system with 10 speakers, plus aluminium sports pedals and door sill kick plates.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta pricing*

1.4 TB	$24,550
Progression 1.4 TB MultiAir	$27,450
Progression 1.4 TB (a)	$29,450
Progression 2.0 JTDM (a)	$33,350
Distinctive 1.4 TB MultiAir (a)	$31,350
Distinctive 2.0 JTDM (a)	$35,250
QV 1750 TBi	$39,150

*Excludes on-road costs.