Stellantis has announced that it has allocated over $400 million to three of its plants in Michigan. Among the initiatives included in this extensive investment plan, the development of a new 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine stands out. It is highly likely that this engine will be introduced in the US and European market, equipping future hybrid vehicles of the automotive group, including future Alfa Romeo models.
Stellantis is working on a new 1.6-liter turbocharged gasoline engine: when is its debut expected?
The new engine will be produced at the Stellantis plant in Dundee, located south of Detroit. For this facility, the company has allocated an investment exceeding $73 million, aimed at optimizing production lines. Here, assembly, welding, and testing of components for the STLA Medium and STLA Large architectures will take place.
Concurrently, an innovative engine is under development: a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with direct injection, identified as GME-T4 Evo. This engine has been designed with considerable flexibility, a characteristic that will allow its integration into new hybrid vehicles set to debut on the market starting from 2025. This engine could make its debut in the hybrid versions of the new generations of Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia, which will launch on the market in 2025 and 2026, respectively. Both will be based on the Stellantis’ STLA Large platform.
At present, these are unconfirmed rumors. However, it cannot be ruled out that this engine might also be used in the next two models of the Italian automotive brand. Although it was initially considered certain that these two vehicles would be offered exclusively with electric powertrains, in recent months the hypothesis has emerged that, following the slowdown in electric car sales, some versions with combustion engines could be included in the range of future generations of Giulia and Stelvio.