- A year of success thanks to the Giulietta, now also with Alfa TCT automatic transmission
MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde, TCT, and TwinAir
The 7 Alfa Romeo Models on Exhibition
After a year of commercial success, Alfa Romeo returns to the Geneva Motor Show with a spectacular stand. Featured in the exhibition area are the Giulietta and MiTo models, which represent the DNA of Alfa Romeo: essential style capable of conveying powerful emotions, technical research which is always cutting-edge, road holding and superlative driving pleasure.
2011 was a year which saw great growth for Alfa Romeo, both in terms of image and sales. In Europe, the share grew from 0.8% to 1%, establishing Alfa Romeo among the brands which underwent the greatest growth last year, with an increase of almost 20%. This success is owed to the fact that the cars are not only appreciated because they are fun to drive, but also because they are ideal for everyday use at the same time. Increasingly, they are chosen by a target which is more mature and demanding, including a greater number of families with children, effectively extending the brand’s offer to a diverse customer base. The image of the brand has also been consolidated to no small extent, above all thanks to the Giulietta.
At the cutting edge from a technological point of view, with engines which bring out its sporting spirit, the Giulietta proves a functional car in a position to offer superior space and comfort, but economical at the same time, as demonstrated by the diesel engine service intervals, with servicing scheduled only every 35.000 km. What’s more, a year from launch, and taking into account the recent 2011 assessment by EuroNCAP, it’s the safest car in the category, with a 5-star rating and the highest ever value in its reference segment among the cars tested, with 87/100.
That’s without mentioning the low running costs – compared to the competition, Giulietta is the car which requires the least servicing in its first 3 years or at 90,000 km – combined with limited consumption, which also make it an ideal choice for corporate fleets, to the extent that it is Italy’s best-selling car and is making it’s way into the corporate policies of Europe’s biggest companies.
Finally, an indication of the Giulietta’s superior quality is the maintenance of its value over time: according to independent third parties such as Eurotax, it can boast the best prices for a car in its segment on the used car market. Market values after twelve months are 68.5% in Italy, 77.5% in the UK and 66.9% in Spain. But the Giulietta also wins out among the compacts in terms of residual value in all other markets.
All this adds up to an ever-expanding customer base for the Giulietta, reaching the highest shares ever achieved by an Alfa Romeo in the compact segment: 2.8% in Europe and 14.5% in Italy.
In absolute terms, approximately 80,000 cars were registered in Europe in 2011 alone, approximately 40% of which in Italy. The foreign markets in which the Giulietta achieved the best results are France (more than 9,200 cars), the UK (more than 7,100 cars) and Germany (more than 6,300 cars), and since the launch, midway through 2010, Giuliettas ordered worldwide total almost 140,000.
The European market has favoured the top-of-the-range versions (90% between “Distinctive” and “Exclusive”), in white (35%) or red, (16%) fitted with the most powerful engines: for example, the 1.4 MultiAir 170 HP represents 15% of the sales mix, about 7 times the average for the segment in this power bracket.
Alfa TCT: Unmatched Efficiency and Performance
The Giulietta TCT is the car with the best efficiency-performance ratio in the category. This transmission can operate in totally automatic or sequential mode, with manual management of the “up and down” positions of the gear lever using the “shift paddles” on the steering wheel. What’s more, thanks to the Alfa DNA driving selector, the driver can customise the car’s personality, enhancing its comfort, performance, safety and efficiency characteristics.
The Giulietta MultiAir with Alfa TCT is the most eco-friendly petrol compact in its category. It can boast extremely limited consumption and emissions (5.2 l/100 km in the combined cycle and 121 g/km emissions of CO2) together with exceptional performance worthy of an Alfa Romeo: top speed of 218 km/h and 7.7 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h.
Recorded values also head up the category in combination with the 2.0 JTDM 170 HP diesel engine. In fact, compared to the same version with manual gearbox, acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h drops from 8.0 seconds to 7.9 seconds and consumption (combined cycle) decreases from 4.7 l/100 km to 4.5 l/100 km, while CO2 emissions pass from 124 g/km to 119 g/km, impressive results for an engine in this category.
MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde, TCT, and TwinAir
At Geneva, the Alfa Romeo MiTo has the perfect opportunity to showcase its revamped image as a high-tech car which retains its position as a sporty compact car capable of winning over customers with an eye for details and maximum driving pleasure.
So it is that it takes to the Swiss catwalk in the new Turbo TwinAir version equipped with the innovative two-cylinder 0.9 Turbo TwinAir – voted “International Engine of the Year 2011” – which guarantees response and agility thanks to 85 HP at 5,500 rpm but above all to a torque of no less than 145 Nm, constant between 2,000 and 3,500 rpm. This all comes together with a significant reduction in consumption and emissions (just 98 g/km of CO2).
The powerful 170 HP “Quadrifoglio Verde” 1.4 MultiAir Turbo is in attendance, to represent the more dynamic side of the model’s soul. This has been revamped, with original and distinctive style elements, in addition to content which is particularly attractive in terms of comfort. The MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde, equipped with the powerful 170 HP 1.4 MultiAir Turbo (awarded Best New Engine of the Year 2010), offers the innovative “Alfa Active Suspension”, a system that actively and continuously controls the electronic shock absorbers, the fruit of work by Alfa Romeo designers in conjunction with road testing.
Therefore, using experience gained on the racetrack, the system allows the MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde to excel even further in terms of agility and handling, giving it exceptional driveability and unparalleled safety. That’s without mentioning the fact that the “Alfa Active Suspension” system perfectly interfaces with the three different dynamic control settings of the “Alfa DNA” device (“Dynamic”, “Natural” and “All Weather”), managing all the applications on the car: from the ESP, steering and Q2 electronic differential to engine response and, if present, the Alfa TCT.
Finally, space is devoted to the 1.4 MultiAir Turbo 135 HP version with Alfa TCT automatic twin clutch transmission, which delivers outstanding performance: 7.1 l/100 km in the urban cycle, 126 g/km of CO2 and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.2 seconds. This is the best example of the passion for being at the cutting edge which lies in the very DNA of the Alfa Romeo MiTo: in fact, it was the first car to offer both the revolutionary MultiAir engine and the Alfa “TCT” automatic transmission.
The 7 Alfa Romeo Models on Exhibition
The exhibition area unfolds like a winding, dynamic road, the ideal scenario for experiencing the emotion that only Alfa Romeo cars can offer, thanks to their agility, power and safety. Two examples of the Giulietta Exclusive – 2.0 JTDM 170 HP and 1.4 TB MultiAir 170 HP – steal this evocative scene, both equipped with Alfa TCT.
The spotlights are also trained on the flagship of the model: the 235 HP 1750 TBi combined with the exclusive Quadrifoglio Verde trim level. This engine offers a specific torque of 195 Nm/litre (the highest of all petrol engines in the category) and – an excellent quality – the maximum torque of 340 Nm is delivered at just 1,900 rpm. A 120 HP Giulietta Distinctive 1.4 Turbo completes the exhibition.
Together with the four examples of the Giulietta, the public can admire three Alfa Romeo MiTos: the 170 HP 1.4 MultiAir Turbo Quadrifoglio Verde, the new 85 HP 0.9 Turbo TwinAir outfitted with the Distinctive trim level and the innovative 135 HP 1.4 MultiAir with Alfa TCT twin clutch automatic transmission.
Finally, visitors will be introduced to the products of FGA Capital, a finance company specialising in the automotive sector, through illustrative materials and certain dedicated media at the stand. The company is operative in the major European markets, and in Switzerland with Fidis Finance, with a sole mission: supporting the sales of all Fiat Group Automobiles brand vehicles by offering innovative financial products with high-added-value services targeted to the dealership network, private customers and companies.
