THE Alfa Romeo Stelvio SUV, the Italian manufacturer’s first ever sports utility vehicle, will join the UK’s fast expanding premium SUV sector from autumn 2017.

The Stelvio SUV will take its place in a rejuvenated Alfa Romeo range, alongside the similarly all-new Giulia sports saloon, which has just gone on sale in the UK.

Developed from scratch by a dedicated, highly focused development team in Italy, the Stelvio and Giulia signal a major relaunch of the Alfa Romeo brand.

Sharing the same all-new sports platform (developed by Alfa), the Giulia and Stelvio are clearly targeting German premium brands, and in particular, BMW.

While the Stelvio is positioned strongly against the X3 SUV, the Giulia will compete with the 3 Series.

The two models share all-new core engines – 2.0-litre petrol and 2.2-turbodiesel – with the latter expected to become the main seller, both in the business and retail sectors, due to its lower CO2 emissions and better fuel economy.

Stelvio will come to the UK with standard all-wheel-drive and eight-speed automatic transmission and will compete in the industry’s fast expanding and lucrative mid-size SUV sector. Across Europe, sales were 398,000 in 2008 but expected to hit a record 716,000 units this year.

Alfa has also developed an ultra-high performance Quadrifoglio version of both the Stelvio and Giulia, developing an immense 510hp. Alfa has the Porsche Macan in its sights with the Stelvio Quadrifoglio. The Giulia Quadrifoglio targets the BMW M3.

In the SUV world, the Stelvio is only the beginning as Fiat chief Sergio Marchionne has already confirmed that both smaller and larger versions of the Stelvio are in the pipeline.

Damien Dally, Alfa Romeo UK country manager says that prices for the Stelvio will be confirmed closer to the launch date; expect prices to be in the £40,000-£50,000 range.