Alongside the countless luxury brands debuting SUVs, the exterior aesthetic of the Alfa Romeo Stelvio was one of the worst kept secrets of the auto industry in 2016. Once rendering artists saw how applicable the Giulia's design was to the SUV frame, premature pictures of the Stelvio made rounds on the Internet and it was only when the Stelvio Quadrifoglio (QV) was unveiled at the 2016 LA Auto Show that these artists realized just how right they were.

However the Stelvio QV is a small percentage of the lineup, and Auto Italia Evolution has uncovered the rest. When we interviewed Alfa Romeo's head of marketing and communication Pieter Hogeveen, we learned that the Stelvio QV is unlikely to make up more than 10 percent of Stelvio sales. That means that if Alfa Romeo wants to stand out against the crowd, it must ensure that the base models highlight the crossover's strongest characteristics. Luckily Hogeveen also mentioned that the base Stelvio would carry many of the characteristics from he Stelvio QV we saw in LA and these patent images uncovered by the Italian site suggest that the Stelvio's good looks won't be eroded by the lower price.

Helping the Stelvio maintain its domineering road presence are large diameter rims and that unmistakable grin. Expect to see the same available engines, including a 2.0-liter gasoline engine and a 2.2-liter diesel. In the US, Alfa Romeo has only released information on three Giulia models, the Giulia, Giulia Ti, and Giulia QV. For the Stelvio, only information for the Stelvio QV is out, but we can expect the SUV lineup to follow the trim levels of the sedan. Autocar speculates that we can expect to see a Stelvio, Stelvio Super, Technica, Speciale, Veloce, and a range-topping QV model, with the lowest trim starting around the $50,000 mark and the QV going for $81,000 without options. 2017 can't come soon enough. Images found on Auto Italia Evolution.

Check out top-rated luxury SUVs.