Alfa Romeo wants to join the retro trend with a new electric 147

The Alfa Romeo 147 was the last great commercial success for the Lombard brand, with a total of 651,823 units manufactured and sold at the Pomigliano d’Arco plant (on the outskirts of Naples) between 2000 and 2010. Its distinctive, youthful, and bold aesthetic, and a dynamic performance superior to its rivals of the time, made the 147 the last car of the brand to win the award for best European Car of the Year in 2001.

The successor to the 147 from 2010 onwards was the Giulietta, an elegant compact that never reached the popularity levels of its predecessor and ended its commercial run in 2020, without a successor in the segment. Alfa Romeo, now part of the Stellantis group, has decided to reintroduce a vehicle in the C segment to fill the gap between the Junior and the Tonale (and in fact, to replace the latter entirely, moving away from what an Alfa Romeo should truly be).

The original 147 was designed by two young designers, Walter da Silva and Wolfgang Egger, names that would become true references in the automotive design industry. The result was a model with a very Italian aesthetic, inspired by classic models like the 6C of the 30s or the legendary original Giulia of the 60s, perfectly combining various aesthetic elements that made it different and attractive. It had an elongated bonnet, a drop in the C-pillar, a three-door or five-door body with handles hidden in the bodywork, a prominent grille that dialogued with the two lower air intakes, marked wheel arches, a raised waistline, and a side crease that gave it dynamism and sportiness, making it a truly captivating car, with a design that remains current and modern even today, more than a quarter of a century later.

A global platform

Stellantis group's roadmap to relaunch Alfa Romeo involves this new compact inspired by the 147, which will use the group's STLA One electric vehicle platform. This platform will accommodate models from segments B, C, and D (city car, compact, and family car) on a single platform for all group brands, saving development and production costs, with 70% of common and reusable components for all group cars. Furthermore, this new platform will allow the battery pack to be integrated into the vehicle's structure, as it is primarily designed for fully electric cars, and will be compatible with an 800-volt architecture, offering very competitive charging times.

It is worth highlighting an element that makes Stellantis group's commitment to this model particularly interesting: the new STLA One platform will debut an electronic steering system without mechanical connection, a top-tier technological commitment that represents a very interesting engineering challenge for a brand that has made piacere di guida (the pleasure of driving, in Catalan) its reason for being. Several British media outlets have already echoed Stellantis group's plans to revive the design of Alfa Romeo's last great commercial success in an electric format, following the path set by Renault with the new R5 and taking advantage of the incentives policy for the European automotive industry implemented by the EU.

The new Alfa Romeo compact, although inspired by the 147, may revive the historic Giulietta name to maintain the brand's legendary commercial name. In fact, Alfa Romeo has been opting for non-numeric commercial names for its range for years (Junior, Tonale, Stelvio, and Giulia). This new automobile will be developed in parallel with the new Peugeot 208, allowing for the presence of models with higher performance and greater category within the range. In other words, if Peugeot has revived the GTI acronyms for electric vehicles and Lancia has done the same with the HF acronyms, it is very likely that the first fully electric Alfa Romeo will incorporate Quadrifoglio Verde (QV) versions in its range, and even a Gran Turismo Alleggerita (GTA) version.