Alfa Gloria hints at forthcoming Giulia
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TURIN – A styling model that hints at the forthcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia will debut at the Geneva auto show next month. The mid-sized Gloria concept resulted from a collaboration between the Alfa Styling Center and the European Design Institute (IED) in Turin. The model will be displayed on IED's stand at the show.
Due to launch in Europe, Asia and the United States in 2015, the Giulia is a crucial part of Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne's plan to boost Alfa Romeo's sales to 300,000 units by 2016 from 100,000 last year. The Giulia will be sold as a sedan and wagon and replaced the Europe-only Alfa 159 model line that was discontinued in late 2011.
Students from IED's transportation design master program were asked to create their vision of a sedan that would appeal to customers in North American and Asian, two markets where Alfa currently is not present but are expected to play a key role in meeting Marchionne's sales target.
In the design brief the students were told that the mid-sized sedan "remains a symbol of elegance and prestige" for the U.S. and Asian markets and that to capture this essence they would need a model that uses its length to convey "comfortable space both at the front and the rear."
At 4700mm long, 1920mm wide, 1320mm tall and with a 2900mm wheelbase, the Gloria's proportions are close to those of the forthcoming Giulia sedan. The next Giulia will have the longest wheelbase among models underpinned by Fiat-Chrysler's compact wide architecture. Other models using the compact wide architecture are Alfa Giulietta, which has a 2635mm wheelbase, and the Dodge Dart with a 2700mm wheelbase.
Alfa says the Gloria's hood "powerfully evokes the Alfa Romeo shield through the lines of the car, which highlight the three-dimensional aspects of its form." The leather strips at the front recall the memorable leather luggage straps used on vintage Alfas, the company said.
"We asked the students in the master program to give us their completely independent interpretation of a new Alfa Romeo sedan," Fiat-Chrysler global design global boss Lorenzo Ramaciotti said in a statement. "During development, we commented, discussed and guided the project in order to get the most from their spontaneous expressions of creativity."
You can reach Luca Ciferri at lciferri@crain.com.
