Designing and Developing Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio
Quest TV takes a look at what it took to get this amazing sport-based crossover on the road.
Back in 2003 Alfa Romeo showed the world the Karmel concept car. It was the precursor to the Stelvio and quite a shock to the automotive world. At the time, consumers were warming up to the idea of the crossover SUV but car enthusiasts weren’t. Porsche was suffering blowback from its fans for the Cayenne but, as history tells us, the crossover market was the key to financial security over the next decade. However, Alfa Romeo didn’t get their concept to market until 2016. At this point in time, it’s a necessity for companies in the sporting luxury segment to have an SUV offering, but it’s also important for those brands to get it right and not dilute their brands with weak offerings.
In this video from the Quest TV YouTube channel, they bring a deeper insight into just how seriously Alfa Romeo has taken their SUV. The key to that is Alfa’s Chief Technical Officer at the time, Roberto Fideli. Fideli spent 26 years at Ferrari before moving to BMW for just 18 months before ending that stint to work with Alfa Romeo. On his work developing the Stelvio, he explains, “I did a lot of different work for Ferrari, starting from aerodynamics specialist up to the technical director. Basically, I’m doing exactly the same work here. We are pushing a lot. I am pushing a lot.”
In the video, automotive writer Tony Quiroga explains Alfa’s customer expectations of the brand, saying, “They want Alfa Romeo to be special. They want Alfa Romeo to be interesting, and Alfa Romeo to be Italian, and uniquely Italian, in the way a German car isn’t necessarily.”
It’s impossible to argue that the Stelvio is distinctly an Alfa Romeo vehicle, and has the performance to back up the looks. Motor Trend describes the Stelvio line as the “sports cars of SUVs,” and even commented that it “carves canyons better than some legitimate sports cars.” Even Jeremy Clarkson, a man that tends to treat the current trend of crossover SUVs with disdain, enjoyed the Stelvio. Alfa may have been late to the crossover party but, unlike some of their rivals, figured out and executed the sporty crossover with precision.
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