The Alfa Romeo Giulia made quite a splash when it was revealed in Italy last week, but its reborn maker nevertheless is keeping plenty of cards close to its proverbial chest. How much will it be? What will the base, non-performance cars look like? How many does Alfa Romeo hope to sell?
One other question we no longer have to ask, however, is what the cabin looks like, because this almost-certainly official image has leaked online, as published by Dutch site Autovisie. Like the exterior, the cabin is very clearly inspired by the Germans. While the exterior styling gives a clear hat-tip to BMW and Porsche, inside the Audi inspiration looks quite clear.
The Italian rival to the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Jaguar XE looks to have an extremely sporty and driver-focused cabin, particularly in what appears here to be flagship Quadrifoglio guise.
Purists will be extra happy to see what looks like a manual shifter and three pedals there, too (though maybe not the electronic parking brake).
The layout is clean and simple, and the fascia tilted to the driver. The media screen is large, and housed in cowling that looks properly high-end.
The concise ventilation dials, carbon-fibre-look trim, audio controls and the rotary dial to operate the multimedia looks properly Teutonic. As do those round air vents.
The steering wheel has a hint of BMW M about it, but the lurid red starter button embedded within is a racy, Italian touch. So is the seeming lack of cupholders (though they may be hidden).
As we know already, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio has an aluminium, turbocharged V6 engine designed by Ferrari. With about 380kW of power on hand, the new sports sedan has a claimed 0-100km/h time of just 3.9 seconds. This makes it more powerful and quicker than the BMW M3, which can do the 0-100km/h run in 4.1 seconds thanks to its 317kW/550Nm twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre straight six.
It even bests or equals, on the paper at least, the Mercedes-AMG C63 S Edition, which has a 375kW/700Nm twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 and a 0-100km/h time of 4.0 seconds flat. Alfa Romeo says that the new Giulia will be available in both rear- and all-wheel drive. It’s unclear at this stage whether the Quadrifoglio will be available in both or just one of these configurations.