CarBrandLogos archive · Alfa Romeo · 2022

Alfa RomeoTonale

Alfa's first plug-in hybrid, and its bid for volume in the crossover market.

The story

A defining chapter in Alfa Romeo history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Alfa Romeo Tonale, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Alfa Romeo Tonale Concept Genf 2019 1Y7A5606

Origins

The Tonale is the car Alfa Romeo built because it had to. Compact SUVs are where the money is in Europe, the Giulietta hatchback had run out of road, and the brand needed something beneath the Stelvio capable of selling in numbers.

Alfa Romeo Tonale Concept Genf 2019 1Y7A5606 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Alfa Romeo Tonale, GIMS 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex

Design and engineering

Underneath it uses a Stellantis platform shared with the Jeep Compass and Dodge Hornet, front-engined with front or all-wheel drive, assembled at Pomigliano d'Arco. Powertrains cover a turbocharged 2.0-litre four with a nine-speed automatic, a 1.5-litre mild hybrid, a diesel and - the significant one - a plug-in hybrid that drives the rear axle electrically, the first such system the company has sold.

Alfa Romeo Tonale, GIMS 2019, Le Grand-Saconnex · Matti Blume · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

The styling, by Alexandros Liokis under Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos, works hard to earn the badge: the three-lobe nose, telephone-dial wheels lifted from the 33, headlamps that recall the SZ. Reviewers have generally found the shape more convincing than the driving, which shares more with its corporate siblings than the grille implies.

Alfa Romeo Tonale 1X7A0004 · Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

It is not the most interesting Alfa Romeo. It is the one keeping the showrooms busy.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2022–present

Engine

Petrol engine

Body

5-door SUV

Technical specification

The Tonale, in detail.

Production: 2022–present
Class: Compact luxury crossover SUV (C)discuss
Body style: 5-door SUV
Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive
Engine: Petrol engine; Petrol: ; 2.0 L FCA Global Medium Engine; GME T4 Turbocharger; turbo Straight-four engine; I4 ; Petrol/electric mild hybrid: ; 1.5 L Fiat Global Small Engine; GSE Firefly turbo I4 ; 1.5 L Fiat Global Small
Transmission: 6-speed FPT C635 DDCT transmission; FPT C635 dual-clutch automatic ; 7-speed Alfa Romeo TCT dual-clutch automatic ; 9-speed ZF 9HP transmission; ZF 9HP automatic (2.0)
Designer: Alexandros Liokis at Centro Stile Alfa Romeo under Alejandro Mesonero-Romanos
Assembly: Italy: Pomigliano d'Arco
Manufacturer: Alfa Romeo