Alfa Romeo will re-open UK orders for the hot Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio in March, after the company extended the V6 duo’s lifecycle through to 2027.
The two performance models were due to bow out – alongside the standard Giulia and Stelvio – last year to make way for all-new replacement models with EV options, but have been given a stay of execution as Alfa goes back to the drawing board on their replacements in light of weaker-than-expected EV demand.
The next-generation Giulia and Stelvio – the latter of which was due to launch in mid-2025 and had been seen in near-production-ready form – were due to go electric, but have been pulled back into development so hybrid powertrains can be integrated.
To fill the gap, the current-generation cars have been made compliant with all current emissions and safety regulation, and will remain on sale with the QV’s range-topping 2.9-litre V6 and the standard car’s 278bhp four-cylinder petrol. Neither is available with diesel anymore.
The V6 performance versions were taken out of production in September but will start running down the line again at Alfa’s factory in Cassino, Italy, from April 2026.
Alfa CEO Santo Ficili said: “We’re reopening orders for the Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio, to keep to a promise made to customers of ours who pay the most attention to the extreme performance and pure emotions inherent in Alfa Romeo’s DNA.
“This is the best way to celebrate one of the most famous symbols in the automotive world, which brings with it a century-old quest for technical excellence applied to competitions and production cars. The Quadrifoglio is the most authentic expression of Alfa Romeo sportiness and of our cars, designed for real fans of driving, with the focus always on the driver.”
Prices for the 2026 Giulia and Stelvio line-up have yet to be detailed, but they currently start from £43,750 and £52,000 in standard form, respectively, with the Quadrifolio variants commanding a circa-£43,000 premiu
Based on the then-new Giorgio platform, the saloon and SUV siblings were introduced in 2015 and have been only lightly updated since then. This makes them among the market’s oldest cars, raising questions about their ongoing viability, particularly given the need to comply with costly new European emissions and safety regulation.
Alfa Romeo has also shifted focus to the more volume-friendly Tonale and Junior crossovers in the last three years, with the need for an increasingly electrified offering dictating its product strategy – but UK boss Jules Tilstone told Autocar recently that the pure-petrol Giulia and Stelvio can continue because there is still sufficient demand and legislative flexibility.
“Eighty per cent of the [UK] market is still ICE,” he said. “People are looking for fun-to-drive performance ICE cars, and the Giulia and Stelvio offer that in spades.
“Look at the Giulia: you can’t get away from the fact that it’s a timeless D-segment saloon – and it is still stunning.”
It is unconfirmed whether either engine needed extensive modifications to comply with incoming Euro 7 emissions rules, but Tilstone said “the powertrains will be effectively the same”.
