The long-awaited successor to the Alfa Romeo 159 has been unveiled and we attended its international preview at the Alfa Romeo Museum in Milan, Italy. The Alfa Romeo Giulia has been one of the best kept secrets in the car world, with very little information being made available and almost no prototypes were spotted on the road. You can read our speculations about the car here and then compare it to the factual information in this article. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is finally here and its arrival today coincided with the brand's 105th year of car manufacture (previously it made aircraft engines) and the event was held at the revitalised Museum, which reopened its doors to the public after being closed for some time.Before we dive into the Alfa Romeo Giulia itself, the other big announcement is that there's been a logo change. While the differences aren't immediately noticeable, there's a renewed emblem with a modern touch.

Alfa Romeo Giulia Details

A lot is expected of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and we think the brand has delivered a product that is able to take on the German rivals and be a logical choice, as opposed to being an emotional purchase. How can you not be emotional when you see the new Giulia for the first time? The rear diffuser with quad exhausts as well as carbon fibre boot lid gives it a menacing appearance, while the big wheels with carbon ceramic brakes mean business. The cars you see here are the flagship Quadrifoglio Verde performance version which use a Maserati/Ferrari-sourced motor. It's a six-cylinder biturbo engine with an estimated output of 375kW. The Alfa Romeo Giulia is claimed to hit 100kph in just 3.9 seconds. Despite it being a performance car, there's a strong focus on emissions and economy, and the Giulia features cylinder deactivation. More importantly, Alfa Romeo has done substantial work on the weight of the car as well as the handling. There's extensive use of carbon fibre and light materials such as aluminium. Carbon fibre is used for the prop shaft, bonnet and roof, while aluminium is used in the doors, engine and suspension. The seats' structural frame is also made of carbon fibre. One of the big talking points is Alfa Romeo returning to rear-wheel drive. While all-wheel drive is on the cards, its the choice of rear-wheel drive that has really raised eyebrows. Combined with ultra-sensitive steering, torque vectoring and 50/50 weight distribution, the new Alfa Giulia looks like its going to be quite a driver's car. While we don't have any official images of the Alfa Romeo Giulia's interior, we can tell you that after peering through the window, there's a distinct Italian look and its all driver focused. One of the big things we noticed was the revised Alfa DNA system, which is now a dial. There's Dynamic and Natural, which we've seen before in the MiTo and Giulietta, but the Giulia now features Advanced Efficient as well as a full-on Racing mode. The interior will feature materials such as wood and carbon fibre, to name but a few. With the Giulia, Alfa Romeo is hoping to jumpstart its brand. It's been drifting on a road of mediocrity for some time now and was in dire need of fresh product. The Alfa Giulia is the first of many cars and we're looking at about 8 or even 9 in the next few years. Internationally we'll see a few variants of the Giulia such as diesels, station wagons and so on.

Coming to SA?

We quizzed the local Alfa Romeo representative and while he couldn't confirm an exact date, estimates of as early as December 2015 were given. To be realistic, wecould see it in the fourth quarter of 2016. The key things here are the exchange rate and the demand for the bread-and-butter models. As exciting as the Giulia QV is, we reckon it's not going to be under R1-million, which is fair considering its targeting the BMW M3 and Mercedes-Benz C63. If the lower-specced entry levels are priced competitively and if the build quality is as improved as Alfa Romeo says it is, we're on course for a Germany vs Italy war again.