AUTOS CARS CUSTOM

A joint effort between the Alfa Romeo Style Centre and design students has produced the 'Gloria' concept.

The project saw Master in Transportation Design students give "their completely independent interpretation of a new Alfa Romeo saloon", according to head of Fiat & Chrysler Design Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

Although merely a styling exercise, the dramatically designed Gloria was showcased on the European Design Institute display at the Geneva motor show.

While taking design features from both modern and vintage Alfa Romeos, the Gloria maintains typical saloon car dimensions with specific focus on passenger comfort and space. Power would come from state-of-the-art V6 or V8 bi-turbo engines.

Lorenzo Ramaciotti said: “During development, we commented, discussed and guided the projects in order to get the most from their spontaneous expressions of creativity. The result was stimulating and marked by professional and creative excellence.”

Alfa Romeo will launch a new saloon in 2014, the Giulia to replace the 159 in Alfa Romeo's dormant executive saloon segment.

The launch of the Giulia saloon will be followed by an estate variant, much like the Giulia's predecessor, the 159. It will share its underpinnings with the Giulietta hatch, and Dodge Dart, but will be the largest model of the three.

The Giulia makes up part of Alfa Romeo's expansion plan into Asian and North American markets. Boss of Fiat-Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, hopes to boost global sales from 100,000 units last year to 300,000 by 2016, in an attempt to recreate the success of rivals like the Audi A4, Mercedes C-class and BMW 3-series.

Thanks to: Autocar