Alfa Romeo Giulia QV Australian pricing revealed

One less question mark now hangs over the 375kW four-door rear-drive M3 and C63 S rival that is the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV – it will officially cost $143,900 plus on-road costs.

Alfa Romeo’s comeback kid squeezes between the BMW M3 ($139,615) and M3 Competition ($144,615), but its 3.9sec 0-100km/h claim even beats the latter by a tenth. The Giulia QV more substantially undercuts the Mercedes-AMG C63 S ($155,615) and it will take buying the coupe version of that model ($162,115) to match its performance claim.

The Ferrari-inspired 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 makes 375kW at 6500rpm and 600Nm from 2500rpm until 5000rpm, which is competitive with the twin-turbo AMG’s 375kW/700Nm 4.0-litre V8 and BMW’s 331kW/550Nm 3.0-litre six – while the Alfa’s carbonfibre-assisted 1585kg kerb weight leaves 65kg lighter and 25kg heavier respectively.

The eight-speed auto-only Italian isn’t barren, either, with 19-inch forged alloys, bi-xenon adaptive headlights with auto high-beam, active cruise control, leather/Alcantara electrically adjustable front seats and 14-speaker Harman Kardon audio with 8.8-inch sat-nav and infotainment screen.

A DNA Pro toggle also acts on the class-first active aerodynamics with adjustable front splitter, torque vectoring system, electronic stability control (ESC), steering weight, engine and gearbox response and multi-mode suspension.

The only question mark now is how the Giulia QV drives on local roads. Its official launch is pegged for February following its Australian public debut at the Portsea Polo in Victoria on January 14.

While thereabouts pricing to The Establishment could be a plucky move for a ‘challenger’ brand that has been in the wilderness – particularly one that will need to win a reputation for reliability and resale – 100 customers have already signed up to buy a Giulia QV.

Considering Alfa Romeo only sold 711 cars last year, it’s a healthy head start.