Although there's a lot of the talk painting the picture of a dying automotive industry, I'm starting to lean the other way. Now, more than ever, the automotive industry is dynamic.
All-new models and segments are being created, electrification is happening in new and different ways, and largely all vehicles are becoming more capable and technology equipped.
What's not to like?
With consumers snapping up sport-utility vehicles in high volume, it has forced some automakers that never considered an SUV to build one. Porsche led off and then came Jaguar, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. And then there's the über luxury players like Rolls-Royce and Bentley who have fielded their own efforts. Rumor has it Ferrari is next on the list.
This is giving buyers looking for something a little different a large palette to select from. But if you're budgeting approximately $40,000-60,000 large and it's between the Alfa Romeo Stelvio and the Jaguar F-Pace, which would it be?
Our friends at Autocar tested both back-to-back, and this was their verdict:
...Back in the silver corner, a hefty, trustworthy, oily-feeling steering completes the sense of carefully polished dynamic superiority that the Jaguar conjures when you drive it back-to-back with the Alfa. When you consider the F-Pace’s better-built, more luxurious and marginally more spacious cabin and boot, you can only come to the conclusion that – despite being outgunned by the Stelvio’s performance and out-handled by it in its way – the F-Pace has done enough here. The Jaguar has proved itself the more complete premium product; our victor on aggregate, if you like, given that its defeats to the Alfa are probably by narrower margins than its victories over the Italian.
But know this: the Alfa Romeo Stelvio has arrived – and it has done so with a bang. It’s well priced; it has the sub-130g/km CO2 emissions that might just get it onto your company car scheme; and it’s a really gifted entertainer. Like the Giulia, it’s a bit of a punt but a hugely likeable presence, too. The Stelvio is an unexpected source of zest, energy and fun in a class that really needs it. It is very welcome. It can stay.
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