2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia detailed | video

Alfa Romeo revival continues with 380kW M3-rivalling super sedan.

The new Giulia sedan is arguably the most important car in the history of Alfa Romeo.

While the slinky 4C sports car was responsible for returning the Italian brand to its sports car roots after it sunk itself into also-ran oblivion, this new Giulia sedan looks to bring the sporty new Alfa Romeo into the mainstream. 

The Giulia is a small premium sedan which is set to rival the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes C-Class, Audi A4 and Lexus IS, along with the upcoming Jaguar XE.

Alfa has attempted to compete with those cars before but with only a small development budget and Fiat-based front-drive underpinnings to play with.

RELATED: 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia revealed

The new Giulia is a much more ambitious beast, packing lightweight platform with rear and all-wheel drive and a Ferrari-developed engine.

It’s the first step in an aggressive $8 billion strategy that Alfa hopes will see production rise from less than 68,000 units in 2014 to over 400,000 by 2018 with eight all-new models.

It’s a strategy that’s delivered an aggressive-looking car too, with the Giulia featuring piercing headlights, a big angry snout and a tough stance.

The basic shape isn’t overtly angry, preferring softer round shapes over taut and sharp ones but once you add the big wheels, aero addenda and quad exhaust tips of the Quadrifoglio (QV) performance version it starts to look suitably menacing.

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The interior is also very driver-focused and bathed in leather, Alcantara and carbon fibre.

It’s dominated by a large central display which is operated by a new BMW iDrive-style controller, while the familiar ‘DNA’ switch toggles between the various drive modes. 

For now Alfa Romeo has only confirmed the range-topping Giulia QV aimed at the BMW M3 and Mercedes C63 AMG but softer versions are coming. 

Boasting a 380kW turbocharged six-cylinder mill developed with help from Ferrari, the performance model can sprint from 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds – quicker than both the Germans.

Alfa promises it’ll be a return to form in the handling department too, claiming a perfect 50:50 weight distribution helped by the use of lightweight materials including carbon fibre.

The prop shaft, roof and bonnet are all made from carbon, while the doors and fenders are aluminium.

There’s no official weight figure yet, but the QV is expected to tip the scales at around 1500kg.

Boasting a 380kW turbocharged six-cylinder developed with Ferrari, the Giulia QV can sprint from 0-100km/h in just 3.9 seconds.

At the front the Giulia adopts a aluminium double wishbones with what Alfa calls a ‘semi-virtual steering axis’ to give an ultra-pointy nose.

By also gearing the steering to be quicker than any other car in this segment, it seems the engineers want to give the car a sensitive and alert feeling like the current range of Ferrari supercars.

The rear suspension is by a multi-link arrangement, similar to most other small sports sedans.

Like the rear-drive German super sedans, the Giulia QV also employs a torque-vectoring active rear differential to give the best possible on-limit handling balance.

Active aerodynamics are also part of the package, including a small splitter which automatically deploys when the Chassis Demand Control system senses it’s required.

The rear of the car also features a big lower diffuser that looks like it’s been snatched form the Ferrari parts bin, which seems entirely possible given the Giulia QV was developed by a team of ‘skunkworks’ engineers.

The first pre-production cars have already begun rolling down the assembly line, but right-hand drive customer cars won’t be ready until late 2016. 

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia CEO Pat Dougherty confirmed today that the new Alfa Romeo Giulia will be coming to Australia.