The Stelvio is a first for Alfa Romeo as it is the Italian marque’s first venture into SUV territory and the car will be priced from £33,990 when it goes on sale in the UK in September.

There will be 11 models in the line-up which will include a limited run of range-topping Milano Edizione special cars costing from £43,990 for a 2.2-litre 210bhp diesel and £45,390 for a high performance 280bhp 2.0-litre petrol model.

That version is laying claim to being the quickest medium-sized SUV on the market with a 0-60mph sprint time of 5.7 seconds and a top speed of 143mph. Fuel economy is rated at 40mpg with emissions of 161g/km.

The diesel Stelvio is almost as quick at 6.6 seconds for the 0-60mph dash and Alfa claims it can return fuel economy of 58.9mpg with emissions of 127g/km. Both are four-wheel-drive with an eight-speed automatic gearbox as standard.

Further additions include a 180bhp diesel available either as a 4×4 or a real-wheel drive variant plus a 200bhp petrol which is all-wheel-drive only.

Including the special edition models, four trim specifications are available with the entry level models featuring 17-inch alloys, LED tail lights and Alfa’s DNA multi-mode drive programme.

Interior specifications include dual zone climate control and an 8.8-inch display screen to supplement a 3.5-inch TFT screen in the instrument cluster.

Sat nav is standard on higher grade Speicale versions which are priced from £41,490 while the Milano Edizione models sit on 20-inch alloys and come with leather sports seats, an upgraded sound system and a rear view camera among their standard features.

The Stelvio has already been given a five star Euro NCAP safety score and all models include blind spot monitoring, forward collision and lane departure warning, plus autonomous emergency brake systems with pedestrian detection.