2016 Alfa Romeo Giulietta | new car sales price

Alfa Romeo Australia has revived some of Italy’s most iconic nameplates for its refreshed Giulietta range, due to touch down in October.

The changes to the lightly refreshed, but streamlined, Giulietta line-up are headlined by a subtle exterior and interior styling update and a revised equipment list, aimed at bringing the hatchback more in line with the upcoming Giulia sedan.

But the big news is the return of the Veloce nameplate, last seen in Australia on the 1995 GTV.

The Veloce badge – which means “fast” in Italian – is reserved for the most powerful Guilietta in the line-up: the 177kW, 250Nm hot hatch that is currently called the Quadrifoglio Verde, or QV.

There’s been no mechanical changes between the QV and the new Veloce, with power still arriving courtesy of a 1.75-lite turbocharged four-cylinder borrowed from the Alfa Romeo 4C, which is still fed to the front wheels via a six-speed TCT transmission. It’s enough, Alfa claims, for a brisk 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.0secs.

You do get a significant power increase. Engine outputs have been notched up from 88kW and 215Nm to 110kW and 250Nm

The Veloce is $100 cheaper than the outgoing model, arriving with a list price of $41,900.

Exterior changes, beyond the badging, are also minimal. The Veloce shares the same revised front grille, dashboard and door panel finishes as the rest of Giulietta range, and still offers leather-and-Alcantara seats, Brembo front brake calipers, Bi-xenon headlights and a flat-bottomed steering wheel – which now wears the new Alfa Romeo badge.

Naming has changed across the rest of Giulietta range, too. Gone are the Distinctive and Progression models, replaced by the Super and Super TCT.

New pricing kicks off at $29,900 for the Giulietta Super in six-speed manual guise ($900 more than the Progression it replaces), but you do get a significant power increase. Engine outputs have been notched up from 88kW and 215Nm to 110kW and 250Nm, while fuel usage has dropped to a claimed/combined 5.5L/100km from 6.4L/100km.

The Super arrives as standard with newly designed 16-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, LED DRLs and a new-look black honeycomb grille. 

The mid-spec Super TCT replaces the current Distinctive TCT, and gets no major mechanical changes, but does nab new-look 17-inch alloys and a bigger 6.5-inch multimedia screen. The Super TCT will wear a sticker price of $34,900 ($100 less the outgoing car), while a manual option has been dropped from the line-up altogether.

Click here to see more 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulietta pricing and spec info.

Is the injection of some Alfa Romeo DNA enough to sway you to the Giulietta hatchback? Tell us what you think in the comments below.