The agreement seemed ready, such to transform Sergio Marchionne’s denial into a real cold shower: the large relaunch plan for the Sicilian plant of Termini Imerese will not take place.

The managing director of the Fiat group then calmed everyone, underlining that 500 million euro will, however, be invested to acquire the assembly chain required for a new car, substituting the current Lancia Ypsilon with a relative hiring plan of 500 employees. Moreover the colossal 1.1 million euro renewal plan (opening of a second line of production which will increase manufacturing levels to 200,000 cars annually) would have been abandoned in the face of conditions judged “unfavourable”, such as to not reach an agreement on the 430 million euro of public assistance.

With thanks to bibo

Via | ccfa

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Audi officially launches the S tronic 7-speed gearbox, a new double clutch robotized transmission that can be coupled with longitudinally mounted engines, with the Quattro four-wheel drive system. This new S tronic transmission can also handle up to 550 Nm of torque, meaning it can be coupled to engines such as the 3.0 V6 TDI or the 4.2 V8 engine of the S5. Or the 4.2 V8 of the RS4, for that matter, since it can handle engines revving up to 9,000 rpm!

The transmission spread is 8:1, meaning it can both accomodate extremely sporty shifts low in the range and long ratios for cruising. More details in the full text of the press release below the fold. No details yet on which models will first feature this new S tronic gearbox.

Continue reading: The new Audi S tronic 7-speed gearbox

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The official announcement of the Alfa Mi.To is out. Mi.To is short for Milano-Torino: Milan is the historical Alfa Romeo base and the place where the Mi.To was designed, Turin is the city that will be responsbible for the Mi.To’s production.

The Mi.To’s style is inspired by the 8C Competizione, especially the glass surfaces, the front, the headlights and the frontlights.

The Mito has dimensions very similar to those of the Grande Punto, with which it shares the underlying platform: 4.06 metres long, 1.44 metres high and 1.72 metres wide.

Initially there will be four turbocharged engines, ranging from 90 hp to 155 hp. There are no details on the exact engines, but we can expect the 90 hp engine to be the same 1.3 JTD used in the Grande Punto and the 155 hp engine to be the same 1.4 T-Jet used in the Grande Punto Abarth. The other two engines will probably be the 120 hp 1.4 T-Jet and another diesel engine (either the 105 hp power step of the 1.3 JTD or the new 1.6 JTD).

Continue reading: Alfa Mi.To - the official announcement

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Audi will be showing the new R8 TDI Le Mans in Geneva: it’s another study with the 6.0 V12 TDI engine (500 ps/1,000 Nm), but this time it seems ready for production and this seems to be the assumption underlying the press release.

The red color is a much bolder choice compared to the silvers and arctic whites seen up to now on R8 show cars, almost as bold a statement as the Le Mans name, there to underline the victories in Le Mans of the R10 TDI in 2006 and 2007.

Below you can find the full text of the press release, with all available details on the “diesel supercar” from Ingolstadt (4.2 s from 0-100 km/h, more than 300 km/h the top speed).

Continue reading: Geneva 2008 - Audi R8 TDI Le Mans

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The new Volkswagen Scirocco will debut next week in Geneva 34 years after the first generation Scirocco. The new coupè, based on the Golf platform, will be quite a bit bigger than the original, with space inside for 4 adults.

Initially the engine range will include four TDI and TSI engines ranging from 122 ps (presumably the 1.4 TSI) to 200 ps (probably the 2.0 TSI). The Scirocco will also include new technologies such as an adaptive chassis control system.

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GM has officially announced the Opel/Vauxhall Meriva Concept that will be shown in Geneva next week.

The Meriva concept is a very different beast from the current Meriva, with its FlexDoors system (rear hinged doors). According to GM, the b-pillars “have been retained for passive security reasons”, a phrase that seems to point to a production-ready car.

Continue reading: Opel Meriva Concept - the official announcement

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Rumours about a diesel TT from Audi have been doing the rounds for a while, but now it’s official: the 2008 Geneva Auto Show will see the debut of the Audi TT TDI Quattro.

The small coupe from Ingolstadt will get the 2.0 common rail TDI engine, a turbodiesel engine that produces 170 ps and has a torque of 170 Nm between 1,750 and 3,500 rpm.

Performance data is nothing to crow about, with a top speed of 226 km/h (223 km/h for the roadster) and a sprint from 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.5 seconds (7,3 s for the roadster). Fuel consumption, on the other hand, is something to crow about, with an average of just 5,3 liters/100 km (44.4 mpg) on the combined EU cycle (5.5 liters for the roadster). CO2 emissions are just 140 g/km.

Continue reading: It's official: Audi TT TDI Quattro

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A year after the unveiling of the GranTurismo, Maserati will be back at the Geneva International Motorshow with yet another world premiere, the GranTurismo S. The ultimate expression of the Trident coupé’s sportiness shifts the emphasis to performance and driving enjoyment.

Two main novelties are at the heart of the new Maserati: the 440 HP V8 4.7 engine and the electro-actuated gearbox with fast MC-Shift arranged in the Transaxle layout typical of high-performance sports cars that represents the technological DNA of all Maseratis.

The GranTurismo S makes use of the high-performance brake system developed in collaboration with Brembo and introduced for the first time in the automotive field on the Maserati Quattroporte Sport GT S. The system features front brake discs made with dual-cast technology, a dual casting of cast iron and aluminum, paired with aluminum mono-bloc 6-piston brake calipers, ensuring optimized braking performance.

Maserati GranTurismo S

Continue reading: Maserati presents the GranTurismo S

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Mercedes-Benz is warming up for the 78th edition of the Geneva Motor Show: the brand is coming with a massive five world premieres: the all-new CLC, the facelifted CLS, SLK and SL, and the CL 500 4Matic, that features for the first time the extremely light all-wheel drive system on this model. You can find the complete press release after the jump.

Continue reading: Mercedes-Benz at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show

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The Infiniti brand is coming to Europe. The first car they will be showing is the Infiniti EX37, what they call “the world’s first coupé crossover”: a sporty SUV with a coupè-like exterior and a luxurious interior.

The Infiniti EX37 will thus be part of a trend inaugurated by its bigger brother, the FX35/45 and taken further by the BMW X6.

The specs on the EX37 are quite attractive: the VQ37 engine is a 3.7 litre V6 engines with 24 valves, double overhead cams and variable valve timing and lift that produces more than 310 ps and 350 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission and an “intelligent” all-whell drive system. No word yet on performance or fuel consumption.

Equipment levels appear to be quite rich, but we’ll have to wait for information about the prices to know how competitive this EX37 will be on the market. You can find below the full text of the Infiniti press release.

Infiniti EX37

Continue reading: Geneva 2008 - Infiniti EX37

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