Alfa Romeo Tonale Takes Home The “Most Beautiful Show Car 2020” Award!

The Alfa Romeo Tonale Concept continues to bring in awards, almost two years after it was officially unveiled at the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show. After winning top honors as the “Most Beautiful Show Car 2020” in Paris a year ago, the concept version of Alfa Romeo’s future C-SUV has won the Reader Award year’s influential  2021 What Car? Car of the Year Awards.

The award is the only one voted for by readers of the United Kingdom’s leading car-buying brand “What Car?”. The Reader Award determines the most exciting new car of 2021 as judged by the very people who buy them.

The Alfa Romeo Tonale is expected to go into production at the end of this year as a 2022 model. The C-SUV is expected to become the best-selling vehicle for the Italian brand by offering a wide range of gasoline, diesel, and electrified options around the globe. 

According to our sources, the production Tonale will be based on FCA’s Small Wide LWB 4×4 architecture. This is the same architecture as the Jeep Compass, Ram ProMaster City, and Fiat Toro/Ram 1000. Our sources are also saying that the compact SUV will feature a variety of powertrains with both turbocharged gasoline and diesel options, depending on the market.

A few of these engines will include the 2.0-liter Multijet II turbodiesel, 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four-cylinder, and the 1.3-liter turbocharged GME-T4 inline-four-cylinder from the Jeep Renegade. Transmission choices will more than likely include a 6-speed manual, a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic for Europe, and a ZF-sourced 9-speed automatic transmission for North America.

“The Tonale concept signals the future for Alfa Romeo, with the production car set to be the first plug-in hybrid to join the range. It’s humbling to see how its combination of beauty and functionality has captured car buyer’s imaginations and that they are as excited to see the final version on the roads as we are”, said Arnaud Leclerc, head of Alfa Romeo EMEA.