Alfa Romeo is the latest premium brand to switch to a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
All new Alfa Romeo vehicles sold and registered from April 22, 2022 will offer the new warranty in place of the old three-year, 150,000km one.
Roadside assistance has also been extended from three years to five years.
“We are focused on fully strengthening our customer commitment in Australia and by introducing this competitive ownership proposition, we will ensure our valued customers benefit from added peace-of-mind, not only at the time of purchase, but for many years to come,” said Alfa Romeo’s aftersales and customer experience director, Stephen Lester.
Tonale
“Our cars represent a uniquely emotional investment and we’re making the experience more appealing than ever before with added value and increased reassurance.”
It’s part of what Alfa Romeo is calling its Head & Heart Promise campaign, with the Italian brand aiming to underscore its vehicles’ reliability.
The brand is getting ready to introduce a new entry-level product in its much-anticipated Tonale, which will arrive here in the first half of 2023.
MORE: 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale revealed, but PHEV not coming to Australia
Giulia
It’s the starting point for Alfa’s latest five-year plan, which will see the company launch a new model every year to 2026. Among the future products is an even smaller SUV, likely wearing the Brennero nameplate, that’ll slot in underneath the Tonale.
The luxury car market has been suddenly shifting to five-year warranties at a rapid clip, several years after five-year warranties started being offered by mainstream brands in mass.
Audi was the latest luxury brand, announcing in January it was switching to a five-year offer. Genesis, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo were already offering a five-year warranty by this point.
Stelvio
Alfa Romeo at the time said it was “constantly evaluating” a longer warranty period, after having said in November 2020 its three-year warranty afforded “more than adequate cover” when combined with Australia’s strict consumer law requirements.
With Alfa Romeo finally deciding to align with the majority of premium brands, that leaves precious few holdouts unless you look at exotic brands like Bentley and McLaren.
Among the more accessible luxury brands, Porsche, Maserati and BMW (including the Mini brand) are the only ones sticking with a three-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, at least for now.
Among mainstream brands, Hyundai Australia first moved from its three-year to a five-year warranty in 1999, and has stuck with it since.
Honda, Jeep and Skoda launched five-year warranties in 2017, followed by Ford, Mazda and Volkswagen in 2018 and Subaru and Toyota in 2019.
Genesis launched here in 2019 with a five-year warranty, but the first high-volume luxury brand to switch to five-year coverage was Mercedes-Benz early in 2020.
Kia has long trumped them all with a seven-year warranty, though it’s no longer alone with such
