Alfa Romeo's 3 Series Rival on Sale This Year

Alfa Romeo‘s return to the North American marketplace is about to get a lot more interesting with two new products aimed squarely at BMW and Porsche.

After a 20 year hiatus new Alfa Romeos went on sale late last year in the US and Canada, but so far only one model is available, the 4C, a limited production niche sports car. Alfa is now adding a topless roadster version of the car but even then total 4C production will be limited to just 3,500 units globally with North America getting roughly a third of those revealed brand boss Reid Bigland in an interview with AutoGuide.

But new products are coming, and soon, he said.

SEE ALSO: Alfa Romeo 4C First Drive

“The next Alfa Romeo on the horizon is a mid-size sedan, dimensionally similar to the BMW 3 Series,” Bigland said. And he’s setting lofty expectations for the car. “Just as 4C is superior to BMW, Audi and Porsche from a performance and technological standpoint, the mid-size sedan will be as well.”

Perhaps most shocking is that despite not having even shown a concept of it yet, the car will be on sale by year’s end. “Look for it to arrive in late Q4 of this year,” said Bigland before pausing and adding “late Q4.”

Bigland wouldn’t comment further on the car but did say that it will put the focus on light weight, though it won’t use a carbon fiber chassis like the 4C. “It’s about striking that balance between performance and the creature comforts people like,” he said.

The production model will be revealed at private function in Milan celebrating the Alfa brand’s 105th anniversary.

After the debut of the sedan, Bigland revealed that Alfa will add a mid-size SUV that’s “dimensionally size of Porsche Macan.” And with that model Alfa also plans to take the performance fight to the segment leaders. “From a performance standpoint our benchmarks are superior performance to the Porsche,” said Bigland.

That model will debut in late 2016 with more to follow.

“The plan is for eight all-new Alfa Romeo products by 2018,” he said, “We’re still on track.”