+++ ALFA ROMEO fans holding out for fresh takes on the Giulia and Stelvio have heard just about everything over the past few years. The midsize pair were first slated to go fully electric, then the Stelvio slipped back on the calendar to make room for a hybrid setup, and this week both names went missing entirely from Alfa’s 2030 product plans. Standing in for them was a single vaguely worded entry, a “New D-Segment Under Study”, which was enough to set off alarm bells. The disappearance quickly bred cancellation rumours, which held until Stellantis circled back to us following our inquiry with word of the mysterious “D-Segment” offering still under consideration. That single line kept the door open, even if it explained almost nothing about what walks through it. The saga started at the Stellantis Investor Day in May. The only D-Segment offerings on the Alfa Romeo slides were the current Giulia and Stelvio, which have been around since 2015 and 2016, respectively. The combustion sedan and SUV recently got a new lease of life through 2028, with the Quadrifoglio returning to production. But what about their long-awaited successors? During this week’s event, a slide laying out the 2030 Stellantis roadmap named 5 upcoming Alfa Romeo models. The group covers a facelifted Junior, a compact SUV lined up to replace the Tonale, a premium compact hatchback, more Bottega Fuoriserie projects, and the unnamed D-Segment model wearing that “under study” tag. The evergreen Giulia and Stelvio have been around for over a decade. Prodded by the conspicuous absence of the Giulia and Stelvio nameplates, we reached out to a Stellantis spokesperson in North America to find out whether Alfa Romeo had a change of heart. The spokesperson replied with the following statement: “All future products are being evaluated market by market, including North America, to ensure the right balance between brand positioning, customer expectations and long-term sustainability. Alfa Romeo remains strongly committed to North America with a clear focus on premium segments, product excellence and sustainable growth. As communicated during the Stellantis Investor Day on May 21, Alfa Romeo has a robust global product pipeline under development. This includes a refreshed Junior, a new-generation C-SUV on the STLA Medium platform, a new C-segment hatchback inspired by iconic Alfa Romeo nameplates, future evolutions of Giulia and Stelvio in the D segment, and new exclusive “few-off” projects developed by Bottega Fuoriserie following the success of the 33 Stradale“. The line that jumps out is “future evolutions of Giulia and Stelvio in the D segment”, which raises the question of whether Alfa Romeo plans 2 separate successors or intends to fold both cars into one model to trim its R&D bill. Merging a sedan and an SUV into a single body would be an odd move, though it would explain why one entry now sits where 2 nameplates used to. Earlier reports suggested the Giulia successor would ditch its sedan roots for a fastback crossover stance. The only development prototype spotted so far, though, was an SUV that surfaced in 2025 looking like the next Stelvio. A few months on, patent drawings sharpened our picture of its exterior design, right before Alfa Romeo delayed the project. Whether Alfa Romeo hauled that prototype back to the drawing board or started fresh on something new, nobody can say yet. What’s certain is that the company is reworking its plans, doing what it can to survive in a cutthroat market. +++
+++ The first-ever all-electric FERRARI was revealed a month ago, and it’s been the subject of an endless stream of hate and vitriol. But according to the automaker’s global marketing boss, Emanuele Carando, this extreme reaction was a good thing. Carando said, “Being a marketing director, I was very pleased. Ferrari is such a loved marque that belongs to everybody and everybody has a right to say something about it. Still, whenever you develop something new, the novelty scares everybody”. The responses to the Luce have been brutal, whether they come from potential customers Ferrari is courting or the brand’s former chairman, Luca di Montezemolo, and while Carando is playing it cool, he concedes that the backlash was worse than expected. Carando said that Ferrari was “expecting a strong reaction, a very polarizing reaction, but we didn’t expect such a magnitude”. In other words, while Carando seems to think there’s no such thing as bad publicity, nobody at the company expected so many people worldwide to respond negatively to the Luce, which is said to start at €550.000. He then went on to justify the Luce’s design, led by LoveFrom, saying that Ferrari could have created an electric Purosangue, but thought “that would not have been the right decision”, adding that the Luce is “a spacious car with a very short front hood, which allows the driver to be very close to front axle, allowing you to have incredible precision in entering curves”. He then argued that the Purosangue, Ferrari’s first SUV, was also the subject of negative impressions when it was launched, though he admitted that “the magnitude was not the same”. It seems, then, that Ferrari is aware of how badly the Luce has been received, but rather than admit a mistake, the company is taking the stance that the EV’s unique aesthetic will yield driving benefits and grow on the world over time. The first may well be true, but the second assertion? That seems unlikely. At least the Purosangue is good-looking for an SUV, and its V12 does the heavy lifting for the bits that detractors don’t like. With the Luce, I still don’t understand why Ferrari couldn’t have created an EV that is both cleverly designed and beautiful to look at. There have been unsubstantiated reports that Ferrari customers looking to have the opportunity of securing an allocation of a future special vehicle, like the 12Cilindri Manuale, for example, would have to buy the Luce to curry favor with Maranello. Before Ferrari chief marketing officer Enrico Galliera left the company last month, he rubbished these reports and Carando backed his former colleague up, saying Ferrari has come up with a “complex algorithm that, in a very objective way, prioritizes clients” for access to limited-run vehicles. Public relations head Alessandro Vaccari concurred: “We never have a bundling strategy of ‘if you buy this, you get that’, but we do count and take an algorith of every interaction you have with the brand, and that gives us a fair way to put a client in the system and define top VIPs”. Again, I can’t help but wonder how much easier selling an EV would have been for Ferrari if it had created something attractive, but as I’ve noted elsewhere on this site, perhaps the conspiracy is that Ferrari wants the Luce to fail so it can argue against any EV mandates. “Look, lawmakers: We tried to sell an EV, but nobody wanted it, and if we’re forced to do so exclusively, an iconic Italian manufacturer and employer will fall apart”. +++
+++ JEEP will introduce a brand-new Renegade by the end of 2027, joining the range with a combination of impressive interior space, rugged looks and a very attractive price point. Aimed at value-focused SUVs such as the Dacia Duster and Opel Frontera, Jeep is banking on this returning model to be a key part of its European success story. Previously confirmed by the former Jeep CEO and current president of the whole group, Antoni Filosa, a new Renegade will arrive in 2027 and should cost from around €33.000. It will sit between the traditional B and C-segments, offering nearly as much interior space as cars from the upper of those 2 classes. This will mean it will also sit neatly below the larger Compass in terms of price, if not outright space; similar in concept to the positioning of Opel’s Grandland and the more affordable Frontera. I sat down with Jeep’s head of product planning in Europe, Marco Montepeloso, for an exclusive interview to find out more about this new Renegade and how it’ll sit within the range. Montepeloso hinted that the next-generation Renegade will be roughly the same size as the previous model: “Personally, I really think there is space in the market between the Avenger and the new Compass, so we think that there is an opportunity”. For context, the Avenger measures 4.08 metres long, while the new Compass is 4.55 metres tip to tail. If the new Renegade does bridge the gap between the 2 cars, it will measure about 4.3 metres; about the same as the latest Duster. The new Opel Frontera and even the Mini Countryman are about the same size, too. When asked if this could cause the Renegade to cannibalise its baby brother’s sales, or vice versa, Montepeloso quickly fired back: “This is not something new. We have sold Avenger and Renegade together over the last 3 years side-by-side. Looking at the customer analysis, there is a clear difference between a 4-metre-long car that is mainly addressing the needs of compactness of some of our European customers, and a bigger 4.25 to 4.3-metre-long vehicle that addresses more the needs of young family that maybe start having some kids or have a very active lifestyle. These are the sort of people who need to bring more stuff, so they need more space in the second row, more boot space”, he said. The key to Jeep being able to profitably sell a low-cost model like the new Renegade is its platform, in this case borrowing the Smart Car architecture that’s currently in use by Fiat, Citroën and Opel. This also means the newcomer will be perfectly suited to European requirements, both in terms of regulations, but also powertrain choice, which will include hybrid and full-electric powertrains. Montepeloso emphasised the importance of Jeep’s new philosophy of “Freedom of Choice”. Like many other brands, Jeep wants to offer customers a wide selection of powertrains, so they can choose the one that suits them best. “It’s absolutely a pillar of our strategy in Europe”, the product boss told me. “If you want to be relevant in all markets, you need to have a wide offering of powertrains to adapt to the different needs of the market. We need to stick with this philosophy”, he continued, “We need to give our customers this freedom, it’s key for sales. And I also think we need to stay flexible at this stage towards any potential evolution of the regulations in Europe”. The Smart Car platform has its limitations, but Stellantis has been working on giving this simple set of underpinnings some extra variability. Expect a new or improved battery pack of somewhere around 55 kWh for the electric variant, plus the option of hybrid models fitted with a 1.2-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine. No current vehicle on the Smart Car architecture features all-wheel drive, but Jeep has insisted that every one of its individual models must include this feature. We therefore expect that work is under way to accommodate a new system, probably using an electrified rear axle, as we’ve seen on Jeep 4xe models such as the Avenger. The reborn Renegade will still trade on Jeep’s rugged character, with a kind of boxy, upright styling. Like the current model, the new Renegade won’t be designed to go rock crawling through Utah’s Moab desert, but a level off-road ability will remain a priority. Short overhangs and a long wheelbase not only help to maximise interior space, but also unlock better approach and departure angles for tackling rugged terrain. Similarly, higher-than-average ground clearance will help deliver a lofty driving position and benefit the car’s wading depth and its ability to tackle any obstacles. With the need to hit a low price point, cabin plastics and quality will be more biased towards rugged and durable, rather than plush. However, it’ll still need to appeal to users in a showroom, so we expect to see modern digital interfaces and plenty of clever design elements that speak to Jeep’s iconic past. This focus on affordability will also affect which rivals it’ll need to compete against. In this case it will include some from within the Stellantis family such as the Opel Frontera and Citroën C3 Aircross, but it’ll also be up against the growing swathes of Chinese SUVs including the hugely popular Jaecoo 7, plus its Omoda 5 cousin, the BYD Seal U and Geely EX2. +++
+++ LANCIA recently shared the first official photos of the new Gamma, a premium fastback crossover offered with a choice of fully electric and hybrid powertrains. The flagship reaches the road later this year and joins the subcompact Ypsilon in the range, but the Delta’s return, once treated as a done deal, looks far from certain. Back in 2021, former Lancia CEO Luca Napolitano promised the Delta would come back as a fully electric car, calling it a manifesto of progress and technology. The official roadmap penciled it in for 2028, arriving after the Ypsilon and the Gamma. However, a recent presentation in Europe suggests a different story. A Stellantis slide mapping out future models across its brands carried a glaring omission under the Lancia banner. The Gamma stood as the only fresh or updated Lancia debut before 2030, which leaves the Delta unaccounted for. Roberta Zerbi, who took over as Lancia CEO in November 2025, has said nothing about the Delta project either, pointing the brand’s near-term energy toward the Ypsilon and the Gamma instead. 2 absences that line up this neatly rarely happen by accident. The sudden disappearance of the iconic nameplate from future plans could be related to the structural changes within Stellantis. The automotive giant is reorganizing its vast brand portfolio in a quest to maximize capital efficiency and streamline resources. As part of that reshuffle, Lancia now answers to Fiat, while sister brand DS Automobiles has been tucked under Citroën, a move that recasts both as Specialty Brands rather than fully independent operations. The likely cost of that demotion is thinner access to R&D money for future products, with the freed-up capital heading toward other Stellantis brands that management would rather feed. Just as Lancia appears to have shelved or delayed the Delta’s comeback, a Stellantis stablemate has confirmed work on a premium compact hatchback aimed at almost exactly the same buyer. Alfa Romeo is building a spiritual successor to the 147 and the Giulietta. The hatchback will sit on the new STLA One architecture and come with a choice of fully electric and hybrid powertrains. To my ears, it sounds like Stellantis lifted a limb from Lancia and stitched it onto Alfa Romeo. +++
+++ Who would’ve thought that off-roading sports and supercars would become a hot niche? First, there was the 911 Dakar that paid tribute to the mighty 959 Dakar winner from the ’80s, then came LAMBORGHINI with the Huracan Sterrato. These days, we’re also seeing more aftermarket companies having a go at it, and there are more than enough wealthy clients interested in them.The Huracan Sterrato was a genuine surprise that defied all logic, given that Lamborghini already had the Urus. Still, it’s a pleasant kind of surprise, and the limited allocation was quickly snapped up. If anything, it proves that there is, indeed, a market for these kinds of high-performance off-roaders. Lamborghini is well aware of the instant success it found with its raised and off-road-ready Huracan. But while Porsche has been spotted testing a new 911 Dakar, the Italian automaker appears quiet on that front. That doesn’t mean that it has abandoned all plans for future Sterrato models, though, as there’s an update from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Lamborghini chief marketing and sales officer Federico Foschini confirmed that the company is giving serious thought to more models that are more than willing to kick up some dirt. As it turns out, Lamborghini was inspired by the fact that Urus owners do SUV things with it. Foschini was quoted as saying, “We have customers who live in the country; we have customers who use the car to hook up a trolley with the horses. So, there are multiple use cases for the Urus. We not only go on the road and on the track, but you can also drive these off-road. So that is definitely something that our customers are looking for”. Okay, those owners are probably far more common in Europe than in the U.S., but it’s nice to hear feedback like that. The executive didn’t say what models could get the Sterrato treatment, but the fact that it’s plural does pique interest. Foschini said that the Urus is already a Sterrato, but hinted that it can be turned into a more focused high-performance off-roader. At the same time, the Temerario is another obvious candidate given that it’s the successor of the Huracan. Lamborghini aims to surprise its customers, as being “unexpected” is one of the brand’s core values, according to Foschini. With that in mind, the folks from Sant’Agata Bolognese could turn its future fourth model into a rally raider, but if it’s the ultimate surprise it plans to give, the Revuelto might as well be given the Sterrato treatment, too. That, of course, is wishful thinking. Still, don’t expect it any time soon, but the next high-speed off-roader from Lamborghini could just jump out of nowhere again. +++
+++ OPEL will expand its hot GSE sub-brand. Opel’s vice-president of current products, Marc Fetzer, reiterated Opel’s position as the only mainstream maker within the Stellantis group with more than 1 ‘hot’ model on its books: the Mokka GSE and the Corsa that’s due soon. As it stands, Peugeot has only 1 confirmed GTi product (the forthcoming 208 GTi), while Alfa Romeo has pinned its hopes on the Junior Veloce. Lancia sells the Ypsilon HF. “We have the beauty of 2 cars with the same powertrain; the only ones in the Stellantis environment”, Fetzer told me. “We decided to give 2 different directions to the product. The hatch is more sporty, more extreme, and the Mokka more comfortable. They are different vehicles”. Yet there’s more to come. Fetzer admitted that GSE isn’t likely to permeate quite as far as the old OPC brand did, but confirmed more sporty models were in the works. “We had the OPC sub-brand in the past. We had a version for all the cars, but we were probably too extreme”, he told me. “We had the Meriva OPC and also the Zafira OPC. We will certainly not go that direction, but we want to have cars for different kinds of customers: the Corsa customer is not the Mokka customer”. He referred to the aforementioned Mokka as “the beginning of the GSE story”, but wouldn’t budge on exactly what might come next. “We want GSE not to be a single element; we promised when we launched the Mokka that it would not be the only GSE”. He did admit that “280 horsepower, for this small car, is already at the limit”, suggesting harder, faster versions of the Mokka or Corsa were not on the cards. “Let’s see what’s coming”, he said. “I cannot give you a clear answer; we are pushing in terms of rally, in terms of Formula E, and we are planning to do more stuff in the future. We do not want to stop with the GSE environment”. Given GSE stands for ‘Grand Sport Electric’, Fetzer said it “makes sense” for all models to have some kind of electrical assistance, but refused to write off hybrid or plug-in hybrid models, possibly pointing towards GSE-branded versions of the Astra or Grandland PHEVs at a later date. “I’m not closing the door,” he said. “Who knows what will happen in the future?” What is certain, however, is that Opel won’t populate the GSE sub-brand with simple spoilers, racing stripes or chintzy trim. “One of the key points is we have developed and spent many, many hours on chassis tuning”, Fetzer said. “Everyone can have 400 horsepower, but the chassis tuning: this is where we are very proud”. +++
+++ VOLVO is all-in on crossovers and SUVs, with the brand’s only wagon model, the V60, is set to leave the lineup after 2026. Volvo may not be done with station wagons and sedans for long, though. According to sources, a model for each body style is reportedly being developed for Europe. And it may not be too difficult to homologate them for the United States. These new vehicles would both be underpinned by Volvo’s SPA3 electric architecture, the same one that underpins the EX60. SPA3 features an 800 volt architecture, enabling fast charging speeds up to 370 kilowatts. The EX60 P12 even features up to 640 km of range, making it one of the longest-distance vehicles in its segment. Assuming these vehicles retain the same battery and electric motor specs as the EX60, we can expect anywhere from 375 to 620 horsepower. These models could potentially have a shorter wheelbase, limiting the battery size and thus decreasing the total range. The source believes the sedan and wagon models would have -60 or -70 badging, and the latter could spawn a lifted Cross Country model like the EX60. Volvo currently has an electric sedan in other markets called the ES90, so a smaller model could be badged as the ES60. As for the wagon, it may be called the EV60. Pricing would start in the low-€50.000 range, meaning these cars would be a bit more expensive than the Tesla Model 3 Premium All-Wheel Drive. It’s unclear if Volvo would offer them with rear-drive versions, or only as AWD versions with a dual-motor setup. This new rumor comes very shortly after Volvo dropped sedans and wagons from its lineup, discontinuing models like the S90, V90, V90 Cross Country, V60, and V60 Cross Country. Crossovers and SUVs are typically not hot sellers, but some luxury automakers can generate strong sales from sedans and even wagons. BMW has seen success with its M5 Touring, splitting sales 50:50 with the sedan model. Volvo has not officially confirmed any new models on the SPA3 platform, but the company’s leadership has hinted it could build vehicles that aren’t SUVs. +++