Alfa Romeo issued three photographs of the new Giulietta hatchback just before Christmas 2009 – but the only interior photo was a limited, rear-facing shot. Fortunately, our nosy spy photographers have bagged a brace of scoop photos inside the new Giulietta’s cabin giving us a flavour of the interior style.
The new 2010 Alfa Giulietta replaces the slow-selling 147 as the Fiat Group’s premium 1-series rival. If you chart the car’s chronology in our related articles to the left, you’ll see that it was going to be called the Milano, but a last-minute change of heart switched the badge to one dusted-down from the 1950s archive.
Inside the new Alfa Romeo Giulietta: the interior spy photos
Our pair of new scoop photos reveal a cabin dominated by the deeply cowled instruments we’ve come to expect from Alfa Romeo. The angled speedo and tacho are pushed out to the extremes of the instrument pod, leaving space for minor dials and read-outs in the middle.
The horizontal air vents are especially modern, a sort of central pod jutting out at the top of the centre console; other highlights include a bank of toggle switches beneath the stereo to control central locking and foglights and there’s – what looks like – the group’s DNA switch ahead of the gearlever to set up the car’s stability systems, steering and throttle response.
Looks like a classy Alfa interior then?
As much as we can tell from these snatched spy photos, yes. Imagine this with Alfa’s deeply puckered leather seats and with final production grains and finishes, and it could be a class act inside when sales start in summer 2010 from around £15,000.
The new five-door Alfa Giulietta is based on the hardware of the Fiat Bravo, which means front-wheel drive and a range of five engines equipped with start-stop:
• 118bhp 1.4 TB petrol
• 168bhp Multiair petrol
• 104bhp 1.6 JTDM common-rail diesel
• 168bhp 2.0 JTDM common-rail diesel
• 232bhp 1750 Tbi petrol badged Quadrifoglio Verde
The new Alfa Romeo Giulietta is shaping up to be an interesting alternative to the Golf/A3/1-series class. The company is under huge scrutiny at present and chief exec Sergio Marchionne is pondering how better to incorporate his premium brands: Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Chrysler each suffer in their own way from indistinct DNA and poor business planning. Expect more clarity and greater cross-pollination in future.