Alfa Romeo may name flagship 6C

Alfa Romeo has long been rumoured to be planning a new range-topping sedan serving as the replacement for its previous 166 and sharing a rear-wheel-drive platform with sister brand Maserati. 

However, reports broke late last year claiming that the future Alfa flagship, referred to internally as the 169, would share the platform of the new 2014 Maserati Ghibli plus all that came with it, namely, a Ferrari-built V6 engine. 

Things really heated up shortly after when the semi-official Alfa Romeo Gloria concept, penned by students at Italy’s Istituto Europeo di Design, made its debut at the recent 2013 Geneva Motor Show. 

Here was a large, rear-wheel-drive concept billed as a “sports sedan with decisive lines” and said to be capable of packing V6 or V8 power. Crucially, the Gloria was also said to have been designed with direct input from Alfa Romeo.

Fast forward to today, and Car and Driver is reporting that the new Alfa flagship, to be called the 6C, is now a top priority at the Fiat Chrysler Group. The 6C isn’t likely to be just a sedan, however, as a coupe is also mentioned. 

The sedan would be the volume model and is reported to be arriving in showrooms by as early as 2015, most likely making it a 2016 model. Ambitious sales of 40,000 units per year have been touted.

While the Ghibli hasn’t turned out to be the M5-rival we were all hoping for (the most powerful model develops just 297 kilowatts), the 6C should be. It’s said to receive a widened track, a dual clutch transmission and possibly even the rear-biased all-wheel-drive setup in the Ferrari FF. Of course, there will also be more mundane versions, including a diesel.

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