Why Alfa Romeo saved the Giulia as Kia’s PV5 shows common sense still matters

Regulars will remember that last month I wrote about the imminent demise of the Alfa Romeo Giulia and its 500bhp Quadrifoglio offshoot, and its forthcoming all electric replacement. I’d love to say the top brass in Milan heard my plaintive lament but clearly their decision to reverse ferret in the intervening four weeks had been rather longer in the planning. So now despite the presses falling silent at the Cassino plant where it was built and with the car therefore firmly in the ground, Alfa has decided to get its spades out and by the time you read this the Giulia will have been exhumed, resurrected and put back into production where it will stay until at least the end of 2027. And I expect you don’t need me to tell you why. Turns out that the formaggi grossi have twigged that take-up for the EV replacement was likely to be less than, er, electrifying so have kicked the car into the near distance, at least for the time being.

I’ve just spent a month using a Quadrifoglio as my daily and found it so charming I almost forgave its faults. Almost. It has a good engine, excellent chassis and superb looks. But so too does it have one of the worst operating systems I’ve encountered, the fuel consumption is ruinous, the seat heaters weedy, the digital radio reception dreadful and it doesn’t even have a clock. Yet here is a car of real character in an era where it’s becoming ever harder to find so I, for one, am glad it’ll be around for a little while longer after all.

I’ve been driving a thing called a Kia PV5 but I won’t dwell on this strange-looking but quite effective electric Korean people mover except to say this: I was driving along a narrow lane when a car came the other way. I slowed down to time it so that we passed at the opening to a field on the left where I could make a slight swerve and avoid all chance of contact or delay. Which I successfully did.

What I failed to see was the pothole where road turned to field into which the PV5’s nearside front wheel sank so far I briefly felt like a dinghy in the wind. There then came a colossal jolt as the wheel and tyre assembly thumped into and then out of the far side of the pothole, followed by an ominous scraping noise. I stopped at once, knowing the tyre and wheel would be ruined and that I’d be lucky to escape without suspension damage.

And damage there was, only not what I was expecting. All that had happened was that a plastic rubbing strip had become snagged on something, partially detached itself from the side of the car and was now dragging noisily but harmlessly along the ground. The wheel, tyre and suspension had escaped unscathed. A lucky break? I think not. Unlike so many other cars, the PV5 is not fitted with low-profile tyres. Indeed its tyres’ aspect ratio is fully 65% of their 215mm width, providing a tall, squishy sidewall perfectly adapted for serving up a plush ride and soaking up the worst our increasingly appalling roads can throw at us.

I wish more manufacturers would be so enlightened, but they won’t: vast rims with licorice sidewalls are what sells despite their deleterious effect on ride quality and susceptibility to damage. In short, we care too much about the image we think our cars project to be troubled by common sense.

“There came a colossal jolt as the wheel thumped into and then out of a pothole”

Driving the PV5 yielded another altogether different thought. It’s an MPV, a category of car until recently about as fashionable as a kipper tie. But now there are others on the market too, including the VW ID Buzz and Lexus LM. Other sorts of once traditional types of car seem to be making a comeback too. Ford, having killed the Fiesta, has decided it wants it back, so has paid Renault so it can re-body the 5 and call it Fiesta. Jaguar has decided to return to the market with a four-door grand tourer, while interest in estates seems to be growing too.

I think it a trend that’s going to continue. For years I have expressed bemusement at how many people choose to buy a crossover SUV when they don’t fit into any of the categories of people who really benefit from them, such as those with limited mobility or young families. I guess it’s all about style, and it being a more precious commodity than owning a car that’s cheaper, faster, more economical, less polluting, takes less effort to stop and has superior handling, like a conventional hatch or saloon.

But the EV revolution is changing the terms of reference. Not only does EV design make it easier to confer really distinctive styling on conventional car shapes, but the linear way EVs use energy (the faster you go the more you use) relative to ICE cars, which are at their thirstiest in town, means aero efficiency is already more important than it’s ever been before. And that plays towards lower, sleeker cars with smaller frontal areas. I don’t expect to be announcing the death of the crossover anytime soon but for those lamenting the demise of more traditional kinds of car, it is at least possible that reports of their death have been somewhat exaggerated. At least I hope so.