Alfa Romeo Giulia: 2018 Car of the Year Finalist

ALFA ROMEO, having long lived in the shadow of its German rivals, didn’t just need an injection of fresh product – it needed a paradigm shift.

And so the Italian automaker delivered one, turning its back on generations of ho-hum bum-dragging executive sedans and wheeling out a rear-drive sports sedan that trades heavily on dynamic ability and looks gorgeous from almost any angle.

It’s called the Giulia, and it cost five billion Euros to develop.

Money well spent? A top-six placing at COTY 2018 suggests so, and our judges were almost unanimous in their praise of the car’s sporting capability and grin-inducing drive. Design was another strong suit for Alfa’s sports sedan, with sheetmetal and cabin styling attracting positive reactions in equal measure.

With a driving position that is more ‘sports car’ than ‘luxury sedan’ coupled with oh-so-Italian flourishes like a steering wheel-mounted starter button and long aluminium shift paddles, the Giulia actively encourages the driver to engage with it and seek out a curvy road. When they do, rapid steering and urgent response – especially from the hard-hitting twin-turbo V6 of the Giulia Quadrifoglio – are there for the taking.

Alfa Romeo is back with a vengeance, and its rock star revivalist sedan swings hard and lands plenty of big punches. Is it good enough for the championship belt? As a COTY finalist, it’s certainly made of the right stuff.