Let's see what this 3 Series from the Italians can do. Alfa Romeo Giulia, a total failure in terms of sales but at least it won our hearts so it's basically a Luis Stan on wheels.
And it's easy to see why it was a total failure on the sales front. I quickly went to comparison sites to see how overrated the Alfa Romeo Giulia is. So, I'm going to start a sentence with so. The Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0 petrol automatic with 200 horsepower (the cheapest on the site) costs 45,500 euros, and the diesel starts at 47,500 euros.
Let's see how the competition stands. The cheapest automatic 3 Series is the 156-horsepower 318i automatic and starts at 34,500 euros, 11,000 euros cheaper. A 204-horsepower 320e automatic costs 44,300 euros, 1,000 euros less and a 190-horsepower 320d 2.0 diesel and automatic starts at 42,000 euros, 5,500 euros cheaper than the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Likewise, a 190-horsepower C Class C180 automatic costs 44,500 euros and a 183-horsepower C200d automatic costs 47,500 euros. I never thought I'd say this, but rather than buying an Alfa Romeo Giulia, buy a 3 Series because it's cheaper. Penny for penny, features for features, horsepower for horsepower, the BMW 3 Series is cheaper.
And that creates a problem for the Alfa Romeo Giulia, the successor to the 159. After 10 years of development and launch, the Alfa Romeo Giulia was supposed to go head-to-head with the 3 Series, but they were so ambitious that they jumped straight at the throat of BMW M and forgot to make a car for the average buyer. For example, the 280-horsepower Alfa Giulia 2.0 petrol starts at 54,500 euros, and a 260-horsepower 3 Series 330i xDrive costs 45,600 euros, with a Steptronic Sport automatic transmission. A difference of 9,000 euros for 20 horsepower and an Afla logo over a BMW logo, because otherwise they are all four-wheel drive, all automatic, all sports-oriented. Or you can get a simple 330i for 43,000 euros and you have 11,500 euros difference but you have rear-wheel drive and no xDrive.