The new Alfa Romeo 157 has taken to the road in prototype form, two years ahead of its planned launch. A car is vitally important not just to Alfa but to parent company Fiat, so the Italians have opted for evolutionary styling rather than a radical step in design.
Although bigger in all major dimensions, the 157 retains the same design themes first seen in the 156 in 1997, but with the steeper nose and deeper grille, first featured on the face-lifted Spider and GTV models.
Styled by Giugiaro and built on Alfa's new, front and all-wheel-drive platform, the 157 is expected to go on sale in Europe in early 2005. The saloon comes first, followed by the Sportwagon estate.
Fiat's corporate links are also on show with the Alfa, and GM, which owns a 20 per cent stake in Alfa's parent Fiat. However, while the 157 is tipped to use GM's all-new alloy V6 engine in 2.8-litre and 3.2-litre forms, Alfa will overhaul the six-cylinder engines.
For the planned performance GTA models, engineers are considering a turbocharged V6 or 3.6-litre with 300bhp, thereby pushing the performance boundaries further in what is now well recognised to be the performance race between marques.
Insiders claim the new suspension - quadrilateral double wishbones and coils at the front and multi-links and coils at the rear - is engineered to deliver improved ride and handling. Alfa developed the Premium platform in Pixbo, Sweden, together with Saab.
However, the Swedes have abandoned the new platform, claiming it's too expensive, following pressure from its parent company GM, which is keen to bring costs at the Swedish marque under control.
The platform will underpin a raft of Alfas, including its first SUV, the replacement for the Alfa 166 and the new GTV/Spider, as well as the 157. The new saloon is charged with re-launching Alfa Romeo in America in 2007.
It will spearhead a six-model line-up of cars aimed to win back respect for the marque in the US. The company is expecting to sell 50,000 cars a year in the market, six times its highest annual sales when previously in the US. The marque left the market in 1995 and GM's extensive dealer and distribution network in the US will be called into assist the relaunch.