By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 22nd, 2024
According to the company, orders for the Tonale open in the fourth quarter of this year. In the first quarter of 2023, the cars will be available for sale. The pricing is not yet known.
On Tuesday, the Italian luxury car manufacturer Alfa Romeo presented its new Tonale SUV. According to the company, with a distinctive, sensual, and forward-looking design, the vehicle will mark “the beginning of a metamorphosis of the brand”. This will be achieved due to the NFT technology that Alfa Romeo will employ in the new SUV.
Francesco Calcara, head of Alfa marketing and communication, said:
“Digitalization is a key enabler of our metamorphosis. Tonale is the first car ever to keep a blockchain, non-fungible token. NFTs are based on the same distributed information logic that protects your Bitcoin. It records all data on the blockchain.”
Alfa Romeo and NFT Technology
Due to the NFT technology, the new SUV of Alfa Romeo will record and store data of the vehicle’s life cycle on a blockchain. Besides, it will issue NFT certificates in order to represent an additional source of credibility for owners or dealers to rely on.
Another noteworthy feature of the new Tonale SUV is the built-in Amazon Alexa voice service. It will enable you to manage and monitor your vehicle, search for points of interest, add products to your shopping list, or control your domotics system while remaining focused on the road.
Further, Tonale is equipped with an infotainment system, a customizable Android operating system as well as 4G connectivity with Over-the-Air (OTA) updates.
In addition to mentioned above, the new Tonale offers two levels of electrification, a Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid Q4. The Hybrid version has a 48-volt Hybrid VGT (Variable-Geometry Turbo). Meanwhile, the Plug-in Hybrid Q4 version with all-wheel drive has an expected range in electric mode of up to 80 km in the urban cycle.
Speaking of the design of the new vehicle, the SUV reflects the rich sporty heritage of Alfa Romeo. It comes with the “telephone dial” 5-hole wheel rims, the cluster in the telescopic instrument panel, the 3-spoke sports steering wheel, and the sine-curve rear headlights.
Alfa Romeo’s Ups and Downs
Founded back in 1910, Alfa Romeo has been a popular and trustworthy car brand for many years. However, in the mid-2000s, the company suffered losses. In 2010, it failed to reach the annual sales target of 300,000 units. Since then, Alfa Romeo has been struggling to realize momentum as a result of a lack of merchandise. The automaker has sold less than 19,000 vehicles in 2019, down from a peak of 23,800 cars in 2018. Notably, the new Tonale is only the fourth product from the company since its return to the US market.
With the new SUV, Alfa Romeo hopes to get its name back. According to the company, orders for the Tonale open in the fourth quarter of this year. In the first quarter of 2023, the cars will be available for sale. The pricing is not yet known.