The car tasked with reversing Alfa Romeo’s decline – the 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale small SUV – is no Jeep Compass in disguise, despite sharing a platform, company officials have assured media.
Revealed last month, the Tonale is Alfa Romeo’s first new model in six years – but whereas the larger Giulia and Stelvio that came before it shared a bespoke, rear-wheel-drive Giorgio chassis, the new Tonale is derived from the ‘Small Wide 4×4’ architecture beneath the Jeep Compass, Fiat 500X and other vehicles.
The Tonale and Compass are even believed to share the same 2636mm wheelbase – but despite the common platform (which traces its roots back to 2012), Alfa Romeo officials say significant changes have been made under the skin to ensure the shared chassis is worthy of an Alfa Romeo badge.
“We had the opportunity to [use] a new plant, a new assembly line,” explained Alfa Romeo global product manager Daniel Guzzafame told Australian and Japanese media at the Tonale’s reveal.
“That helped us a lot in evolving what was the ex-FCA C [small car] and C-UV [small SUV] platform into something that was meant for us, to maintain and respect the [Tonale] Concept [revealed in 2019], in terms of proportions and style, and the driving dynamics.
“We started from a former FCA [Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Alfa’s former parent company] platform, and we evolved it in terms of track – the platform actually looks different, because the car will look different from other vehicles because of that track.
“But also materials, weight distribution – because we used aluminium stamping – the suspension [is] specific, the electric architecture is new, the steering and steering column rack and, by consequence, the steering ratio is specific to Tonale.
“I’m calling it an evolution because actually, if you take it part by part, the only thing common is the central floor,” Guzzafame concluded.
2022 Jeep Compass Review
2022 Jeep Compass Review
2022 Jeep Compass Review
Above: 2021 Jeep Compass.
Beyond the wheelbase, the Tonale’s new 1.5-litre mild-hybrid powertrain is shared with its Compass sibling, albeit with the option of a higher state of tune – while its 1.6-litre diesel engine, and the fundamentals of the Alfa’s plug-in hybrid system are common to the Jeep.
However, the Compass can’t match the Tonale’s 50:50 weight distribution, unique frequency-selective dampers, available adaptive suspension, or other chassis components pitched at sharp handling.
Platform sharing between mainstream and luxury cars is not uncommon; see Audi, which uses the same MQB platform underpinning the Volkswagen T-Roc and Skoda Karoq for the Audi Q3 small luxury SUV.
The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale is due in Australian showrooms in the first half of next year, following the commencement of European deliveries in the second half of this year.
For full details on the new model, click here to read Drive’s full reveal story.
Keyword: 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale: Why it’s not a reskinned Jeep Compass