He didn’t specify what body shape the vehicle would be in, but said it didn’t have to be a crossover. Open doors or add more creative twists to traditional segment archetypes.
Imparato said the body shape and design will be revised next year.
Last April, Imparato said Alfa Romeo’s next flagship model would hit the market by 2027 and would be a larger all-electric crossover than the Stelvio. He described it as competing with the BMW X5.
The brand’s first battery-electric model will arrive in 2024, followed by its first purpose-built EV in 2025. By 2027, Alfa Romeo plans to include only battery-electric models in the US as well.
Alfa Romeo will feature sportiness in its future EVs, the CEO said in Tokyo.
“We need to shift the concept of performance,” he said. “We will be a high-performance EV.”
That means a fast charge of 800 volts and a charge time of up to 18 minutes. The motor power, he added, will go from 350 hp to 800 hp. And for the Quadrifoglio performance sub-brand, the Imparato envisioned power in excess of about 1,000 horsepower.
Alfa Romeo sells only three nameplates in the US: the 4C mid-engine sports car, the Giulia and the Stelvio. Overall U.S. sales in 2022 fell by 30% to 12,845 units.
Launched in 2017, the Stelvio has been Alfa Romeo’s top-selling vehicle in the US since 2018.