Alfa Romeo Tonale Hybrid: It’s certainly a car

The subgenre of small SUVs that are actually fun to drive attempts to get more and more crowded all the time. Mazda kind of defined the niche with the CX-5 a decade ago (it was even available with a manual transmission back then), and it’s still a field leader, although now it certainly has company, especially from premium brands like BMW, Benz and Volvo.

So, you’d think Alfa Romeo, that legendary nameplate based around driving satisfaction, should be able to nail the segment, right? Yeah, no.

The worst thing about the hybrid Tonale is not just that it’s a rebadged Dodge Hornet. And by “rebadged,” I pretty much mean they just slapped some badges and wheels and a new grills on it and called it an Alfa. It’s less a reskin than it's just a Hornet with a slightly different haircut.

[Dodge Hornet: Hybrid or gas? Why we prefer one over the other.]

Anyway, Alfa tossed some Alfa swag on a Hornet, which was already kind of a B-minus small SUV, and charged several thousand dollars more for it. You can basically walk into a Dodge dealer and order a feature-for-feature Hornet just doesn’t have Alfa badges and save roughly the cost of a nice used Miata.

As a car, the Tonale is … okay? The plug-in hybrid is good for around 30 miles of EV operation, which is decent and would fit nicely into most people’s use case. But once the battery is depleted, the hybrid system doesn’t do much to really boost the efficiency past something like an all-gas Mazda CX-5.

Fit, finish and comfort are, perhaps unsurprisingly, exactly like that a Dodge Hornet, which could best be described as “budget premium.” It’s a lot like upgrading to first class on Spirit Airlines. So, it’s not bad, it’s just not several mortgage payments better than a Hornet, and it should be both by execution and by intent.

Alfa can and should do better. The Tonale should hold its own against cars like the BMW X1 or at least the Mazda CX-5. At the moment, it’s not, and that’s a bummer because we’ve seen what the company is capable of when they aren’t just rebadging mediocre cars.

On paper, at least, the hybrid Hornet/Tonale sounded pretty promising when they were first announced.

Stellantis already can't sell the regular Hornet because it's not that competitive in its segment and kinda expensive when compared to the competition. So, they slap some Alfa badges on one and charge even more money? How very GM of them! 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Seriously, who is this for?

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

Yeah, just looking at that, that's kind of a hard sell if you consider everything else that's available in that segment.

If you ignore all that, and refuse to drive anything but a Dodge, then maybe it makes more sense.

I've driven a few Hornets as rentals, and they are fairly bad cars. Terrible ergonomics and visibility, and they driving experience is really sub-par. My CX-5 is a far superior vehicle.

I had a Hornet as a rental.  It left me stranded on the side of the road.  Sounds about right.  Never again.

I only drove the Tonale for a bit, but I thought it was a perfectly serviceable $35,000 car.

It's just priced at $55k. 

Now that's just sad. Alfa deserves better. 

On a different note: I think that the second generation Rav-4 with the V6 option predates thr Mazda.

stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) said:

In reply to Tony Sestito :

Seriously, who is this for?

 

Apparently nobody.  New ones around here are being advertised for around 30% off retail.  

-Rob

 

In reply to mal_reynolds :

In a world where crossovers are the most popular type of vehicle, and tons of them are everywhere in just about every driveway in the country, Stellantis can't figure out how to sell these. That's pretty crazy in my view. These things usually sell themselves simply by existing! I've seen a handful of Hornets total since they debuted. 

That said, the take rate on the Jeep crossovers seems to be OK. I see tons of them all over the place. They really screwed up with these things. 

Colin Wood said:

In reply to stanger_mussle (Supported by GRM undergarments) :

Yeah, just looking at that, that's kind of a hard sell if you consider everything else that's available in that segment.

If you ignore all that, and refuse to drive anything but a Dodge, then maybe it makes more sense.

The really wild fans who say "Mopar or no car" and mean it are not the easiest crowd to sell to; they frequently can't be convinced that many Chrysler products are real Chrysler products. Enthusiasts are already a difficult demographic for marketing, and you're looking at a group so fanatical some of them kept Dodge Diplomats as daily drivers until Chrysler bought back rear wheel drive passenger cars.

Didn't the Alfa version come first and then realizing that Dodge needed something more than just The Durango, the infinite wisdom was to badge engineer the Alfa into a Dodge via the bastardization of a name acquired in the old AMC acquisition?

In reply to John Welsh :

Alfa had the Stelvio before this, at least in the US market:

That's based on the Giulia sedan and a totally different thing from what I'm reading. It's a bit larger than the Hornet/Tonale. I've seen a lot more of these than I've seen Hornets, granted, they have been around a little longer. 

Tony Sestito said:

In reply to mal_reynolds :

In a world where crossovers are the most popular type of vehicle, and tons of them are everywhere in just about every driveway in the country, Stellantis can't figure out how to sell these. That's pretty crazy in my view. These things usually sell themselves simply by existing! I've seen a handful of Hornets total since they debuted. 

100% this. Crossovers virtually sell themselves, but Stellantis has managed to produce a crossover people don't want. It's almost impressive, really.

I know how it's supposed to be pronounced, but I'm choosing to call these the Alfa Romeo Toenail.

Some crossovers are getting lower and wider, now if they keep this trend and extend the roof we will be back to proper wagons.  Just need to find a new name for them so they will sell.

LoRoofPeopleHaulerTowPigEcoAdentureDoAllVehicle

I'm looking for a crazy long name that creates a catchy or ridiculous acronym or abbreviation.

And y'know, the most interesting part of the Tonale is that it was engineered first as an Alfa and the Dodge Hornet variant came later in development. Or so I've been told.

My assessment of the Tonale and Hornet are the same as JG's... they're fine. Expensive for what they are (at MSRP) although they seem to have big rebates now to try and move 'em. I do like that they come in some fun colors.

Last year, I had the opportunity to drive a Hornet and a Tonale within hours of each other. Very minute differences. If you do like the overall car, I don't think you'd be disappointed with just getting the cheaper Hornet unless you're insistent on driving something with Alfa Romeo on it.

NickD said:

I know how it's supposed to be pronounced, but I'm choosing to call these the Alfa Romeo Toenail.

Who are you and how did you infiltrate our group chat?

Anyone read the name of this car as Toenail?

Apparently not.