The Italian car brand won’t be ditching its petrol-powered V6 for electric power just yet, after an exec let slip it will still ‘roar’ for years to come.
Italian car maker Alfa Romeo will continue to offer a petrol-powered V6 in its high-performance models until at least 2030, according to comments from a member of its communications team.
Speaking to British outlet Car, Cristiano Fiorio – a communications executive hand-picked by CEO Santo Ficili – said Alfa Romeo “will continue to have Quadrifoglio forever”, referring to the brand’s rival to BMW M Division, Audi RS and Mercedes-AMG models.
Mr Fiorio added he does “not see an EV [Electric Vehicle]” but instead “a Quadrifoglio which has the sound of a real engine … maybe in five years things will change, but as of now, Quadrifoglio to me – to us [Alfa Romeo] – should be something with roar.”
“That is something that is expressed by fans – by customers – because the penetration of Quadrifoglio in many markets is very interesting. So, we will have to continue to give to clients what they want,” Fiorio told Car.
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Known for its sonorous exhaust note, the Italian car maker boasts one of the most legendary V6 engines among enthusiasts, the ‘Busso’ V6 – nicknamed after its creator, engineer Giuseppe Busso – made between 1979 and 2005.
The current ‘690T’ 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 engine was co-developed with Ferrari and makes 375kW/600Nm in the rear-wheel drive Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Super Sport sedan for a 3.9-second 0-100km/h time.
While not suggesting any changes – such as the adoption of hybrid technology – Mr Fiorio confirmed the existing V6 can be fitted to the STLA Large platform the new Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV will both use.
“At the end of the day, if you express a high powertrain version for the Giulia and Stelvio which – by the way – are big cars, I would not see two, three, four cylinders … I don’t know. Maybe it’s easier with six cylinders.”
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The move echoes other car makers, including BMW – which recently committed to producing V8 internal combustion engines into the future – as well as Mercedes-Benz back-pedalling following slow sales after it dropped V8 power from its AMG C63.
German rival Audi also recommitted to a new generation of internal combustion engines as part of a new model onslaught, abandoning its previous goal of selling only battery-electric cars from 2032.
Alfa Romeo – which is one of more than a dozen auto brands making up Stellantis, including Ferrari, Fiat, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge – played a waiting game on its long-term strategy decisions in 2024.
Then Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, now COO of Stellantis for ‘Enlarged Europe’, chose to wait out election results – which included the United Kingdom, France, India and the United States – before making any moves, given broad differences in emissions and electric vehicle policy.
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In January 2025, Alfa Romeo abandoned plans announced less than two years earlier to sell electric cars only from 2027. As Drive reported in September 2023, “unless there is a radical U-turn by regulators”.
“We believe no company will invest to meet Euro 7 [emissions laws]”, said Daniel Guzzafame, global head of production for Alfa Romeo, said at the time.
This is no longer the case, with Audi now offering Euro 7 compliant diesel engines – admittedly after the Euro 7 regulations were watered down to be no tougher than Euro 6.
The Alfa Romeo Junior (nee Milano) SUV – previously planned to be the final internal combustion car from the Italian car maker – is scheduled to arrive in Australian showrooms in the second half of 2025.
The post Alfa Romeo V6 power to live on – report appeared first on Drive.