Kill Bill star to launch Alfa Giulietta

ALFA Romeo has enlisted the services of Kill Bill star Uma Thurman to launch its all-new Giulietta, which hits European dealerships next weekend and goes on sale in Australia in December.

The sultry American actress – and William Shakespeare’s famous verses such as “we are such stuff as dreams are made on” – will both feature in Alfa’s advertising campaign for Italy’s newest premium hatchback.

Alfa says Ms Thurman’s aggressiveness, bravery, dynamism, beauty and ice-cold, untainted image is a perfect fit for the Giulietta, which it claims “knows how to be agile in the toughest situations and comfortable on everyday roads”.

She will play five roles, representing five different women “who symbolise the different souls of the car”, in the Giulietta’s new television commercial, which was shot entirely in the US and will air on Italian TV from May 16.

Designed to replace the 147 and relaunch the Alfa brand in Europe in its centenary year, the Giulietta will be available overseas with four Euro 5 emissions-compliant engines – with two petrol and two diesel engines fitted as standard with an idle-stop system.

Two specifications grades (‘Progression’ and ‘Distinctive’) will also be on offer in Europe, along with two option packages (‘Pack Sport’ and ‘Pack Premium’), two fabric seat trims, four leather trim colours, eight alloy wheel options ranging between 16 and 18-inch, and nine body colours.

When it goes on sale here late this year, the Giulietta will be released with 88kW (120hp) ‘1.4TB’ and 125kW (170hp) ‘1.4TB Multiair’ turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engines, as well as Europe’s larger 125kW ‘JTDM’ 2.0-litre turbo-diesel.

Topping the new five-door/five-seat hatchback range from its Australian launch will be the Quadrifoglio Verde (four-leafed clover) flagship, powered by a 173kW (235hp) ‘1750’ 1.742-litre TBi turbo-petrol engine that delivers best-in-class torque of 340Nm.

Alfa also says the cloverleaf Giulietta’s specific power of 98.5kW per litre is the highest in the world for a four-cylinder unit in this segment, as well as being the highest ever achieved by an Alfa Romeo engine.

Matched with Alfa’s new TCT six-speed twin-clutch automatic transmission, the two 125kW petrol and diesel engines are expected to power the top-selling versions within the Australian Giulietta range, which will be priced to compete with premium small cars like the Audi A1 and BMW 1 Series – rather than the VW Golf and Ford Focus as it is in Europe.

Respected UK publication Autocar has already driven the Giulietta, which was originally to have been badged as the Milano but will instead reintroduce a model name previously worn by the Italian brand’s first volume model in the 1950s, describing it as the best Alfa Romeo in 25 years.

As we’ve reported, the Giulietta is based on Fiat’s new ‘Compact’ platform, which will also be shared with Chrysler.

Also due to underpin the next-generation Fiat Bravo/Ritmo, it eschews the decade-old 147’s double-wishbone front and MacPherson strut rear suspension systems for new front strut/multi-link rear arrangement, as well as bringing a ‘Dual Pinion Active Steering’ system, ‘Alfa DNA’ onboard electrics, ESC/VDC stability control, ‘Dynamic Steering Torque’ (DST) and a Q2 electronic front differential.

Vital Giulietta statistics include kerb weights ranging between 1355 and 1395kg, a 60-litre fuel capacity, 500kg towing capacity (1300kg braked), top speeds ranging between 195 and 242km/h, 0-100km acceleration claims between 6.8 and 11.3 seconds, and a combined average fuel consumption range of between 5.5 and 10.8L/100km.