Alfa Romeo will debut a BMW 3-series competitor this summer, with the sedan scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. during the first quarter of 2016, Automotive News reports. Reid Bigland, head of the Alfa Romeo brand in North America, revealed that the name of the new sedan was still being worked on even though it has been tipped to be named the Giulia -- a historic nameplate for the marque -- in some reports.

Bigland had a firm date for its public debut: The sedan will break cover on June 24, 2015, in Milan, Italy. That's the date of Alfa Romeo's 105th anniversary.

Bigland also indicated that the new sedan would actually exceed the performance characteristics of traditional segment stalwarts such as the Mercedes-Benz C-class, the BMW 3-series and Audi A4.

"I’m confident that it’s going to blow your Italian socks off when you look at the specifications associated with this vehicle," Bigland told Automotive News in an interview. "I think with the D-sedan, you can expect performance at or above the Porsche, BMW and Mercedes for like-to-like classes. With our base, our mid and our high, look for them to be a little bit of a notch above based on what they have in the market right now."

The sedan will be joined by a D-segment SUV that is expected to land during the fourth quarter of 2016, or in early 2017. The SUV model, also unnamed for now, will take on the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3, and the Porsche Macan.

Alfa Romeo's rollout of U.S.-market sedans has been delayed for a few years now, though with the 4C already on sale in the U.S., the expansion of the lineup could not really have been delayed much further; dealers are itching for a larger lineup in various price categories.

Bigland did not mention a pricing strategy for the new sedan, which is expected to be announced closer to the model's commercial launch, and declined to get into specifics regarding performance at this time.

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