Alfa Romeo Australia cuts Giulia Quadrifoglio prices by up to $15,000

Alfa Romeo Australia has temporarily cut the price of the Giulia Quadrifoglio by up to $15,000 under its official End of Year Sales Event, with the offers tied to vehicles ordered and delivered by December 31, 2026. The discounts also extend to the limited-run Super Sport and Estrema versions of the mid-size Italian sports sedan.

What the bonuses are worth

The standard Giulia Quadrifoglio carries a $7500 factory bonus, dropping its price from $156,990 to $149,490 before on-road costs. The larger $15,000 bonus applies to the Super Sport and Estrema editions.

The Estrema is limited to 19 units in Australia and was listed at $186,990 before on-roads, prior to the bonus. The Super Sport was listed at $174,200 before on-roads before the $15,000 reduction.

Alfa Romeo has not announced how many vehicles in total are covered by the bonuses. The offers apply to new and demonstrator vehicles sold by participating dealers while stocks last, and exclude fleet, government and rental buyers.

The hardware underneath

The standard QV uses a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine producing 375kW and 600Nm, sent to the rear wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission. Alfa Romeo quotes a 0-100km/h time of 3.9 seconds and a claimed top speed of 307km/h.

The Estrema steps up to 382kW and 606Nm, and adds carbon-fibre body components and an Akrapovič titanium exhaust system for a louder note. The Super Sport's changes are largely cosmetic: a carbon-fibre roof, dark 19-inch 'telephone dial' alloy wheels, a black leather interior and individually numbered build plates.

The Giulia QV competes with the BMW M3, Mercedes-Benz C63 S E Performance and Audi RS5. Buyers cross-shopping those German rivals will find the Alfa's appeal rests on its Ferrari-derived V6 and rear-drive layout rather than on badge prestige or dealer reach, which is why a five-figure factory bonus does more for the deal than any showroom haggling is likely to.

A farewell edition kept alive

The Super Sport arrived in 2024 as a farewell edition of the Giulia QV, initially limited to six units in Australia out of 275 globally. It launched alongside the Super Sport version of the Stelvio Quadrifoglio SUV, of which three examples from a 175-unit global run were allocated here.

The Giulia and Stelvio were first released in 2015 and 2017 respectively and share the same Giorgio platform. Production of petrol variants had been slated to end by May 2025 under an earlier plan for Alfa Romeo to sell only electric vehicles from 2027, and production of the flagship Quadrifoglio variants stopped in September 2025 according to Autocar. The regular model's production was subsequently extended through to 2027.

That extension is what makes the current campaign possible: the QV is running out its final years on the Giorgio platform, so a factory-funded discount is a clearing mechanism for remaining stock rather than a permanent repositioning of the car's price. Buyers who want one of the 19 Estremas or the six Super Sports should treat the December 31, 2026 deadline as real, because the supply behind it is finite.

Rivian intends to launch a set of AI features in 2027 that let its in-car assistant order coffee along a driver's route and handle vehicle service automatically, according to Chief Software Officer Wassym Bensaid.

Speaking on the Plugged-In Podcast, Bensaid said much of the work is already underway but needs to become more reliable before a wider release, adding: "We're very close".

Coffee on the route and service that books itself

The coffee feature would have the assistant pick the right place at the right time so the drink is at the right temperature when the driver arrives, Bensaid said. On the service side, Rivian's AI is intended to proactively diagnose problems, arrange a service appointment and confirm the service centre has the correct parts before the owner turns up.

Bensaid framed that as "a complete paradigm shift" in the service experience, describing it as both a better customer experience and a cost efficiency lever that helps Rivian be more competitive on service.

The catch is that none of this is a single switch to flip. Bensaid said the features need more tuning and refinement, some of it internal and some involving partners in how requests are grounded and optimised. That explains why a company describing itself as "very close" is still pointing to 2027 rather than the next over-the-air update.

What the assistant already does

Rivian launched its in-house AI assistant in May, pitching it as more than a ChatGPT-style question answerer that switches on the A/C or sends texts. At launch it could work with Google Calendar so drivers could move meetings on the fly, and Gmail integration arrived in October.

The assistant can answer general knowledge questions, control vehicle functions and connect to a driver's Google Calendar and Gmail. Owners have nonetheless complained about shortcomings, which Bensaid attributed to the usual tuning and refinement that new features require.

Bensaid's longer-term goal is for voice and AI to cover everything a driver can currently do by tapping the touchscreen, describing that deep OS integration as the end state. He also raised the prospect of bringing a personal digital ecosystem into the car and connecting with other agentic experiences.

Which Rivians, and at what price

Rivian has not announced which models will receive the 2027 features. The assistant was pitched as deeply integrated into the R1S and R2, but the sources do not confirm a model-by-model rollout for the coffee ordering or automated service functions.

Nor has Rivian said whether the new features will cost extra. No subscription or pricing detail appears in the reported plans, so for now the safe assumption is that nothing has been confirmed either way.