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Alfa Romeo calls for public involvement in naming of new SUV
Until now, the junior sibling of the Tonale has been tipped to wear the Brennero name after a mountain pass in Italy.
Alfa Romeo wants the public to name its new SUV due out in 2024. Image: Alfa Romeo
Set to become a reality in the first half of next year, Alfa Romeo has backtracked on the name it plans on using for its new small SUV by asking the public to do so instead.
Let the public speak
The Alfisti’s interpretation of the new Jeep Avenger as it will ride on the same PSA-era CMP platform, the newcomer, up until now, had been expected to feature the Brennero nameplate after a mountain pass in Italy similar to the Stelvio and Tonale.
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In a newly released statement though, Alfa Romeo remarked that the latter’s junior sibling, known in-house as “Kid” will be a “game changer” for the brand it says it will “rewrite the rules” of the so-called urban SUV segment.
Denouncing the use of the Brennero name first mentioned in 2021, the statement goes one step further by asking as to whether the decision to ask for public involvement with the name signalled a change in how it now communicates with buyers and attracts inputs as opposed to making decisions internally.
First Alfa EV
The unexpected name reversal won’t have any impact on the newcomer prevailing as Alfa’s first all-electric vehicle, however, as it is expected to derive motivation from the same 54-kWh lithium-ion battery pack as the Avenger that produces 115kW/260Nm.
A hybrid model, most likely utilising a plug-in configuration or even a mild-hybrid setup similar to the Tonale will also be produced, but not after 2027 as a result of Alfa Romeo being wholly electric after said year.
Despite its platform sharing, Alfa Romeo stated that the “Kid” will have a “sporty DNA” and that its final design has already been the subject of “various hypotheses on the web”.
“It will be Alfa’s first full-electric vehicle, but it will also offer versions with combustion engines. We’ll launch our first electric-only vehicle in 2025.
“Starting that year, all new models will be 100 percent electric, worldwide,” Alfa Romeo boss Jean-Phillipe Imparato told Automotive News Europe of the newcomer last year.
More details soon
Similar to the Avenger, Alfa Romeo will build the newcomer at parent company Stellantis’ Tychy Plant in Poland and despite little else being known at present, speculation is more details will become apparent over the coming months in the form of teasers.
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