If the car brand is distinguished by nationality, then the Italian car is like the Italian football team, which is more difficult to appear in the lives of ordinary people, such as Lamborghini, Ferrari and Maserati brands. This is not to say that Italian-made cars do not have any popularity, on the contrary, the above Italian car brand awareness has reached the point where ordinary consumers dare not discuss it before they drink alcohol.
It can be said that before 2017, the Italian cars that can be bought and seen in China are either the above supercar brands that ordinary people can't afford to buy, or the niche models of the Fiat series that can be bought but really don't have the courage to touch.
But in 2017, this pattern that has been maintained for decades was broken, because in this year, another Italian car brand entered the country, that is, Alfa Romeo.
Due to its long history and its blood relationship with Ferrari's constant and chaotic blood, coupled with the Launch of Giulia and Stelvio after entering the Chinese market, they coincided with the "young sports" that had just sprouted in the Chinese auto market at that time, and its price was not so unsatisfactory.
Therefore, as soon as Alpha Romeo was launched in 2017, it naturally captured the hearts of many young consumers, and even today, five years later, in the streets, you can still occasionally see an Alfa Romeo model.
Pictured is Giulia
But come and go, go in a hurry, you can say how beautiful Alpha Romeo was when he came to the country, then how bad the situation is now! In just five years, Alfa Romeo has been exposed in China to "difficult maintenance and extremely high prices", "many small problems and inconvenient maintenance" and many other negative information.
Coupled with the low retention rate caused by the brand being too niche, many consumers are discouraged, which can be fully reflected in the overall sales of Alfa Romeo. It can be said that consumers who are still buying Alfa Romeo models at this stage are absolutely 100% true love.
Pictured is Stelvio
But Alfa Romeo is so unexpected, just when everyone has almost completely forgotten the brand, it once again appeared in front of us with a new car, only this time Alfa Romeo seems to have been completely and performance Say Good bye, it brought a front-drive + three-cylinder family SUV model - Tonale.
It may be the relationship of positioning, Tonale is no longer as sharp as the two old predecessors, the overall is a little more rounded and gentle, like a middle-aged uncle who has just entered the age of confusion, returning to the family again.
At the design level, we have to admit that Tonale's appearance is still quite high, and the classic inverted triangle grille is not outdated even after decades. The most outstanding design of the entire front face is its headlight shape, which is not only unique in shape, but also widens the visual width.
Interior design has always been a weakness of Alfa Romeo, which is evident in Giulia and Stelvio, and even Tonale has not escaped. It can be said that Tonale's interior design is like a direct move from two old predecessors, without too many trendy designs.
And in terms of workmanship materials, although the real car has not yet been seen, but in the consistent style of Alfa Romeo, the author estimates that Tonale's workmanship should still be "wild", after all, Italian cars, you know.
According to foreign media reports, Tonale's body size is 4528/1835/1604mm, the wheelbase is 2818mm, and the wheelbase is exactly the same as that of the big brother Stelvio, but due to the limitations of body length and width, Tonale is still a standard compact SUV. However, due to the advantages of long wheelbase, it can be predicted that Tonale should be better than the main competitors of Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA in terms of spatial performance.
In terms of powertrain, Tonale's richness can be said to be dazzling. First of all, due to the influence of the electrification trend, Tonale will mainly promote the light hybrid and plug-in hybrid power versions.
In the light hybrid model, it will mainly be equipped with a 1.5T three-cylinder + 48 light hybrid power system, and will be available in both high and low power versions according to different configurations, and the transmission will match the 7-speed dual-clutch transmission and will use the front-drive drive mode.
However, there are also foreign media reports that Tonale will be equipped with 1.3T three-cylinder + 48V light mix, as for which set of power system, we are not sure here.
In addition to the light hybrid model, Tonale also has plug-in hybrid models and will be equipped with a four-wheel drive system, but we still don't know what kind of power system it is equipped with. In addition, in order to target the European market, Tonale will also be equipped with a 1.6T diesel engine with a maximum horsepower of 130Ps.
Write at the end:
From the Perspective of Tonale, this is obviously a product of Alpha Romeo's transformation into the home field, but whether the new car will enter the domestic sales, there must be a big question mark here. But it is foreseeable that even if new cars enter the country, they may not have too good market performance.
First of all, a brand full of sports genes has created a three-cylinder + double-clutch family SUV model, which perfectly stepped on the taboo of Chinese consumers buying cars.
Secondly, niche brands and high maintenance costs are not affordable to ordinary consumers, so Tonale will still be the smallest utopia with banknote power + true love powder.