The Alfa Romeo Tonale will make its debut as a plug-in hybrid, parent company Stellantis said in a statement. Though the compact SUV-coupe was initially said to debut this September, Automotive News Europe subsequently reported that the debut of the Tonale has been pushed back as Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato demanded better performance from the PHEV.
This would also make the forthcoming Tonale the first model in the Alfa Romeo line-up to be a plug-in, said Stellantis in its statement. The introduction of the coupe-SUV will be delayed until early 2022, supplier sources told Automotive News Europe in April; the Tonale was not included in the Stellantis European launch schedule for this year, the news site reported.
The Tonale’s previously rumoured sharing of powertrain with the Jeep Compass and Renegade 4xe PHEV variants appears to be confirmed, and the plug-in hybrid powertrain will similarly share the Jeeps’ two output versions of 190 hp and 240 hp. This is from a 1.3 litre turbo inline-four petrol, paired with a 400-volt 11.4 kWh lithium-ion nickel-manganese-cobalt battery pack offering 42 km of purely electric drive.
Alfa Romeo’s current line-up of the Stelvio and Giulia will be bolstered by the arrival of the Tonale as the Italian brand’s sales have slumped in the United States market, and it will be the brand’s first new model since the the Stelvio was introduced in 2016, notes Automotive News Europe.
The Tonale has been scheduled to enter production in October at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles plant in Pomigliano near Naples, the news site added.
Meanwhile, the Alfa Romeo model line-up is set to gain another member in 2023, wrote Automotive News Europe. This will be a small SUV that will feature both fully electric and internal combustion powertrains, and this will be built on PSA’s CMP architecture at a Stellantis plant in Tychy, Poland, where similar models from Jeep and Fiat will also be built, it said.
This will complete the four-model range for Alfa Romeo which head of Stellantis in America, Mike Manley envisioned for the brand in 2019, the report said.
GALLERY: Alfa Romeo Tonale concept at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show
The post Alfa Romeo Tonale confirmed to feature PHEV version; to be joined by CMP-based small SUV in 2023 – report appeared first on Paul Tan's Automotive News.
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