The Alfa Giulietta in white or the Alfa Giulietta in red….? There was never any doubt that the Alfa Giulietta would be a sexy car at the Geneva show, and the 147 replacement looks like it could hold its own among the Giulietta competition, aesthetically at least. The big question is whether it will be enough for Sergio Marchionne. In a year marking 100 years of Alfa the main goal is to be a crowd pleaser, and sell while you’re at it.

The Alfa Giulietta comes with some impressive engine options - the new 1.4-litre Multiair with 170 hp, for example, or the 1.4 T-Jet with 120 hp. But if you want the superfast, sports model in true Alfa Romeo tradition, you’ve just got to go for the Giulietta Quadrifoglio Verde, with its four-cylinder engine with 235 hp. It has a top speed of 242 km/hr and can reach 100 km/hr in 6.8 seconds. Check her out in these lovely Giulietta live pics.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta live at Geneva

Continue reading: Alfa Romeo Giulietta live pics from Geneva Motor Show

The Italians are impatient to see what the next Abarth Punto Evo will look like, perhaps something like the rendering above or the Abarth Grande Punto after the jump. It is only a question of when the new Abarth Punto will be presented, as Sergio Marchionne has already confirmed the Abarth models for 2010: the Punto Evo, the 500C and perhaps even a 500 TC.

The Abarth Punto Evo is sure to have the new Multiair engine with 170 hp, meaning in the future the EsseEsse model will have 200 hp. The 500 TC stands for “Turismo Competizione” and was originally the name given to race cars based on street-legal models.

The big question is why Abarth should focus on just two models and get extreme handling out of the A and B segments represented by the Fiat 500 and Fiat Punto Evo. Frustrated with these tuned versions and lack of style, some Italians are asking where Alfa Romeo is in all this. Alfa represents a true, stylish sports brand with plenty of pedigree, and the Italians want to know why Abarth should be the only brand representing Fiat in the world of racing.

Perhaps Sergio Marchionne knows something we don’t about Alfa Romeo and its future, or perhaps we should wait a little longer and see what comes out of the Alfa-Abarth-Maserati mix. Whatever the case, there’s more than one Fiat/Alfa Romeo fan peeved that the 500 and Punto get the tuned treatment when money could be invested seriously in Alfa Romeo sports style, too. As one comment on Autoblog.it reads: “You can’t ever be a passionate fan of cars until you’ve got yourself an Alfa Romeo.”

Source | Autoblog.it and Caradisiac via Autoblog.com

Continue reading: Abarth 2010 Punto Evo and 500C: what happened to Alfa?

For the first time in Fiat’s 111-year history, Italy is no longer the brand’s number one market. The local market has been overtaken by Brazil, purchasing 750,000 cars a year to Italy’s 722,000. If any evidence was needed as to Brazil’s “emerging” market status, the stats speak for themselves. Italy’s purchases decreased by 0.5 percent, while Brazil’s increased by 12.6 percent.

That’s a big number which has left even CEO Sergio Marchionne surprised (figures of this kind were expected for Brazil, but further down the track). What’s more, Fiat seems to be on a winning formula for this South American market, taking out the number one spot for car manufacturers, too. Volkswagen follows, selling 695,395 vehicles and General Motors trails behind a little at 610,836 sales.

The results are not due to one particular model, but a combination of Fiat’s hard work over a number of years to build their presence in the Brazilian market, providing vehicles that customers want to buy, and new car tax incentives from the Brazilian government. By comparison, the Italian car market is likely to experience a slight decrease this year, which could get very costly if the government chooses not to continue scrappage schemes.

Source | Autoblog.it

Continue reading: Brazil becomes Fiat's biggest market

These spy shots of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta would seem to confirm the style of the interior, which we have seen from other shots collected from the internet. Official pics of the Alfa Giulietta were already released some time back, but testing is still continuing with slight camouflage, before the unveiling at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show.

These are turbulent times for Alfa Romeo and a lot rests on the Giulietta being a success for the brand in the midst of a review. The Alfa Giulietta interior had been planned, but among the rather chaotic release of the first pics, the official interior became unofficial as Alfa planned to modify it and block the official photos being released, apparently on specific request of Sergio Marchionne.

The Giulietta interior is quite similar to those unofficial first pics, with some modifications being made to the central compartment of the dash. In the place of the integrated radio in the same colour as the rest of the interior, we now see a standard space that looks set to accommodate an audio system based on customer choice. Or, we could also be looking at an entry-level Giulietta where the space originally dedicated to the navigation unit has been converted into a storage spot. Other aspects of the interior, including the shape of the air conditioning vents, the steering wheel and the gear level now seem confirmed.

Alfa Romeo Giulietta spy shots

Continue reading: Alfa Romeo Giulietta spy pics interior

The Alfa Giulietta could be the car that saves Alfa Romeo in the eyes of CEO Sergio Marchionne, unimpressed by the performance of the brand. And it’s nothing less than we’d expect from sensual Alfa design, and this fast cut video shows it from all angles. Try to ignore the subtitles, or you’ll miss the look of the car (fabulous in white).

Debuting at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show, the Alfa Giulietta will have a turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol engine with 120 hp, though the more exciting 1.4 Multiair will also be available from the launch date, with 170 hp. There will be a 1.6-litre JTDM with 105 hp and a 2.0 JDTM with 170 hp. For those wanting the full Alfa power job, a Quadrifoglio Verde version should also be produced, with 235 hp.

Continue reading: Alfa Romeo Giulietta video

As we wait for official photos of the new Alfa Giulietta (the name is still unconfirmed but it appears that Alfa Romeo will no longer use the “Milano” name previously chosen), whose debut was postponed at the last minute, you might think the excitement surrounding the new model would mean parent group Fiat was happy about Alfa Romeo fortunes. Things appear quite the opposite though, with Sergio Marchionne personally ordering a review of brand strategy and calling into question future investments already planned for new models.

Alfa Romeo is facing a full product freeze to arrest declining sales, or a revamp of its line using Chrysler-based models. While the new Alfa MiTo has been a fresh and successful models so far for the brand, it hasn’t been enough to plug the hole created by ageing models and delayed plans for new cars.

The new Alfa Milano, now Giulietta most likely, should have proved to be a key turning point for the brand but its debut was again delayed (we should see the official pics tomorrow). The new car will still be presented to the market and so far interest has been positive. It’s what happens after the MiTo and this 147 replacement that’s important.

Alfa is looking at no investments in new models after the Giulietta debut, making it and the MiTo the only new models in the range, as sales of the 159, Brera coupe, Spider and GT Coupe will continue. That would shelve plans for the new Alfa Giulia, or 159 replacement. The alternative is to use the new alliance with Chrysler to share platforms and build new sedan models. Whichever they choose, it appears that Marchionne is looking for a complete turn-around in the brand, and future Fiat Group investment will depend on it.

Source | Automotive News

Continue reading: New Alfa Giulietta amid brand strategy review ordered by Marchionne

According to reports, Daimler head Dieter Zetsche has been advising Sergio Marchionne on what to do with the Chrysler brand and how to handle the Fiat-Chrysler merger. Known also as having destroyed the Chrysler brand, at least to Americans, the guys at Autoblog.com are telling Marchionne to do exactly the opposite of whatever Zetsche is telling him.

We think Marchionne is probably safe, as we don’t see him as the kind of guy up for advice from someone who was the head of a company that went disastrously bankrupt. We’ve reported on some of the reservations regarding the new Fiat-Chrysler relationship, but frankly, things are looking better than what they did when it was Daimler-Chrysler “merger of equals” time.

Zetsche has apparently happened upon the fact that the US market likes big cars, and that Fiat has only promised smaller cars and fuel efficient technology. We had thought of this too, along with many others in the business (it doesn’t take a former CEO to figure that out, after all) but we’re feeling quite positive about future Lancia-Chrysler sedan designs, as the Lancia Thesis renderings indicate.

Continue reading: Dieter Zetsche gives advice to Sergio Marchionne

Fiat had already decided to launch its low cost brand in emerging markets such as the South American market, but given the current economic crisis, the brand could be considered for the Eastern European market as well.

Sergio Marchionne has announced that three new models will be launched in 2010, which could offset sales problems in the current market. The Fiat low cost brand will be competition for products such as Dacia, which Renault successfully launched in Europe. Currently the new Fiat brand is without a name, with suggestions ranging between Innocenti and Autobianchi (neither in my opinion, would be a safe choice!), although something entirely new could come of the venture, including collaboration from tata.

Source | Automotive News

Continue reading: Fiat: low cost brand for Europe

This deal has quietly slipped under the radar, but is ready to signed as Fiat and the Serbian goverment agree to the cession of Zastava at a figure of approximately 700 million euros. The signing should occur, according to Italiaspeed, next Monday.

The deal has been negotiated by Alfredo Altavilla, vice president of Fiat Group, and Mladan Dinkic, minster for the economy. It will see Fiat take a 70 percent stake in the group, along with manufacturing facilities at Kragujevac, while the Serbian government invests 200 million euros. Signing the deal will be Serbian president Boris Tadic, prime minister Mirko Cvetkovic, Fiat general manager Sergio Marchionne, and Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini.

Via | Italiaspeed

Continue reading: Fiat-Zastava: agreement to be signed

The commercial relaunch of the Italian company will inevitably pass to the United States, at least that’s what many employees and the protagonist in the launch, Sergio Marchionne, are thinking.

Sergio recently received an honorary degree in management engineering from the Polytechnic university of Turin and has said that “it’s impossible to manufacture cars in Europe and then sell them to the US while making a profit”. Alfa Romeo is evaluating, with calculator in hand, the best adapted facilities overseas for the production of some models from its range.

Continue reading: Alfa-Romeo: American production in Ontario

Talks with Fiat management have not been concluded on the part of Mercedes, and while no specific projects are underway, programs for the next Mercedes Class A and B have not terminated either. Daimler president Dieter Zetsche, in occasion of the Glk debut event, has reinforced ties with the Italian company, given as finished some months ago.

“I have a lot of respect for Sergio Marchionne”, said Zetsche, “We often catch up. We have discussed a possible base for a Fiat and Mitsubishi-Fuso partnership.” Zetsche also discussed the importance of the Chinese market for their own brand (”a place where we need to be present”), and praised Mercedes growth at 30,700 units, up 44% on 2007, in a market capable of exceeding 10 million units for the first time.

With thanks to Fulvio.

Via | Il Sole 24 Ore

Continue reading: Mercedes: ties with Fiat smoothed over

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

Continue reading: Fiat: no mega-plan for Termini Imerese