Top in Automotive: Alfa Romeo

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Insider: Alfa Romeo 4C gets 240PS / 270PS, Racing, Stradale & Roadster Variants Confirmed

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Sergio Marchionne’s ambitious plan for the resurrection of Alfa Romeo calls for no less than six new models for launch in the U.S. market until the end of 2016. The thing is that, four of them are earmarked for 2015 and one for 2016, leaving just one model for this year: the 4C mid-engine sports coupe.

Thanks to a CarScoop reader who happens to be a Swiss dealer and who attended an Alfa Romeo meeting earlier this month, we are in a position to share several new details about the production 4C that will likely be presented at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Contrary to initial reports that its 1.7-liter turbocharged inline-four could put out as much as 300-horses, Alfa Romeo officials told dealers that its output will be 240PS or 237hp for the base model, the same as in the Giulietta QV from which it is borrowed.

Friday, February 1, 2013

The arrival of the new limited edition Alfa Romeo MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde SBK in the UK after its world premiere at last year's Paris Motor Show, sparked a promotional idea into the heads of the Italian brand; since the car is inspired and named after the Superbike championship, how about placing it together with a racing bike on the track?

Alfa Romeo called in precision driver Paul Swift and British Superbike rider Chris ‘The Stalker’ Walker to perform a neat stunt at the Silverstone circuit. Swift drove the Alfa over a ramp tilting it on one side so Walker could ride under it in a Kawasaki ZX-10R Ninja British Superbike before speeding out to the other side.

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed on Wednesday, January 30, a revised version of the company's product plan for its seven of its mainstream brands in North America, including Chrysler, Jeep, RAM, Dodge, SRT, Fiat and Alfa Romeo.

Under the new schedule, the four small cars previously planned for Chrysler and Dodge, two for each brand, which would have been assembled by Fiat and be launched this year, are now dead.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

It’s almost time for Alfa Romeo to unleash its first true rear-wheel drive sports car since the demise of the 8C Competizione coupe and roadster in 2010, the new 4C mid-engine coupe.

This week, our spies nabbed a pre-production prototype of the 4C testing in Europe. While Alfa Romeo's engineers had the car covered almost from top to bottom, we can still see all some of the styling modifications made over the impressive concept displayed at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

These include the addition of new exterior mirrors with a larger surface mounted on the doors, the visible door handles positioned right in front of the side air vents, the new circular tail lamp fixtures, and the redesigned (and dare we say, more impressive looking) diffuser at the rear end that also gains a set of auxiliary lights.

When Alfa presented the study two years ago, it told us that the 4C features a 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine coupled to a dual-clutch transmission driving the rear wheels. We still don’t know how strong the engine is, but the word on the street is could deliver 300 or more horses.

Friday, January 18, 2013

We won't blame you for being dubious about Chrysler-Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's latest reference to Alfa Romeo's return to the United States, but fact is, the Italian-Canadian executive told reporters after an InForum breakfast on Friday morning that the Alfa Romeo 4C should land in the country before the end of 2013.

"We're finalizing the car now, so it should be here by the end of the year," said Marchionne, according to a report from the Detroit News. "It's ready in the sense of all the work with architecture and types of models."

The mid-engine 4C was introduced as a near-production concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and was recently spotted testing in Michigan. Alfa hinted at the presentation of the final production model at the end of last year, likely pointing towards the Geneva Motor Show in March for the big reveal.

Last May, the Fiat Group and Mazda revealed that they signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the joint development and production of a new roadster for the Alfa Romeo and Mazda brands.

Today, the two companies announced the signing of the Final Agreement, which stipulates that the Japanese carmaker will produce an open-top two-seater sports car at its Hiroshima plant from 2015.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Alfa Romeo’s return to the U.S. market, which is supposed to revive the historic Italian brand that’s currently on life support, has been announced more times than we can recall, only to be postponed time and time again.

In our 2013 NAIAS review we wrote that, compared to GM and Ford, not to mention foreign carmakers, the Fiat-Chrysler Group presence was underwhelming and we were wondering where Alfa Romeo was.

Apparently, others were thinking along the same line so they questioned the group’s CEO about it. Sergio Marchionne replied that he won’t be bringing the brand to the U.S. until the –long overdue- 159 mid-size sedan replacement, aka the Giulia, is perfect.

Monday, January 14, 2013

If there's one Alfa Romeo model that may come to the U.S. after all, it's the upcoming production version of the 4C mid-engine sports coupe concept that was first seen at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

A reader from the online edition of Autoweek magazine captured a heavily camouflaged prototype of the 4C testing on a Michigan expressway last Friday, January 11.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

The last great sports car to be produced by Alfa Romeo was the 8C Competizione offered in limited numbers between 2007 and 2010, which shared its platform and V8 engine with the Maserati GranTurismo.

For the near future, the Italians have promised us at least two new sports models, the 4C mid-engine coupe and the next Mazda MX-5-based Spider, both of which are expected to be less spectacular than the 8C, but also much more affordable.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

If there's one thing Alfa Romeo has graciously afforded us these past years, it's broken promises – be that its fabled return to the U.S. market or a swarm of new models covering just about every segment in the market, none of which ever happened.

That might change now that parent company Fiat has made the decision to aggressively compete in the lower and mid premium segments with Alfa Romeo and in the upper levels with Maserati.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

It's a story that we've heard again, and again, and again from the Fiat Group; re-launch and turn the Alfa Romeo brand into a global player in the premium segment.

Whether the Italians will to stick to the program remains to be seen, but given the recent developments with Maserati, including the introduction of the new Quattroprote and sightings of Ghibli prototypes, there's a good chance Fiat means it this time.

Monday, December 24, 2012

Politics play a big part as far as large-scale auto manufacturers are concerned. The GM and Chrysler bailout initiated by Republican President George W. Bush and implemented by his Democrat successor in the White House, Barack Obama, was a political decision rather than one based solely on cold, hard facts.

Most European governments are now faced with the same problem due to the debt crisis that has led to a plunging new car market. The French government has already financed PSA Peugeot Citroen; Italians fear that Fiat, whose Italian plants are running way below their minimum capacity, as there is no demand to satisfy, may be forced to close some of them.

Monday, December 17, 2012

It's been a year and nine months since Alfa Romeo pulled the covers off the impressive 4C Sports Coupe concept at the 2011 Geneva motor show, and even though it had been initially suggested that we could see the final production model on sale this year, obviously that never happened.

Alfa Romeo officials have said that this may happen sometime in 2013, but with the Italian brand, one can never take these statements for granted – Alfa's on and off return to the U.S. market is a prime example…

Well, while we're waiting for the Italians to give us a date on the only interesting model it has in store for us , a driver in Italy spotted a camouflaged prototype of the 4C coupe -ahem- stranded on the side of a road.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Just like carmakers in real life, independent designers drawing conceptual studies on paper or on computer screens will often revisit their work and implement styling changes to evolve their projects and/or possibly even address criticism about certain aspects of the design.

This seems to be the case with Italian designer Marco Procaccini from MP Car Design and his Alfa Romeo Orazio Satta, which we first showed you back in September.

Monday, October 29, 2012

For the time being, Alfa Romeo may be tangled in the ever-changing puzzle that is the Fiat-Chrysler group product plan, but there's certainly something about the brand that ignites automotive stylists’ inspiration.

With the Alfa Romeo Giulia 50GT Concept, Rome-based Italian designers Michele Di Mauro and Claudio Piccioli who run the GetShaped Studio have re-imagined the Giulia Sprint GT penned by Bertone.

Apart from bringing the classic Alfa coupe into the 21st century, the two designers wanted to celebrate the studio’s centenary as well as the model’s 50th anniversary (hence the “50” in the name).

The two studies, a GT-oriented and a sportier, more aggressive version (the red and the grey-colored examples respectively) remain faithful to the overall concept of the original Giulia, retaining its large circular headlamps and oversized Alfa “shield” at the front, as well as the hood air vent.

Friday, October 26, 2012

With Alfa Romeo having cried wolf one time too many in the past few years due to Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne constantly revising the company's schedule, it’s reasonable to take any news about future plans with a grain (or a truckload) of salt.

This time, a source from within the company has revealed to British publication Autocar that the mid-engined, rear-wheel drive 4C sports coupe, which has been displayed as a concept, will be unveiled in production form at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2013 and go on sale, in Europe at least, later next year.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Some of you may be too young to remember (or find it hard to believe), but there was a time when Alfa Romeo rolled out rear-wheel drive mainstream model, which even in their base variants, were a treat to the eyes and the hands of drivers.

The Giulia that was launched in the early 1960s is one of those cars. Weighing just 1,000 kg (2,205 pounds), it was powered by an alloy DOHC four-cylinder petrol engine in 1.3- and 1.6-liter displacements with power outputs ranging from 74 to 100HP, coupled to a four or five-speed manual gearboxes.

At the time, the trend of updating models nearly three years after launch and then releasing a replacement in another two to three years was non-existent.

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

It’s been about four months since Fiat and Mazda announced that they would share the next generation’s MX-5/Miata platform. Each company would develop its own version of the rear-wheel drive roadster, using its own powertrains and distinctive design.

After the announcement, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said that he is open to discussions for a much deeper collaboration with the Hiroshima-based manufacturer, as his company “will continue to look at bilateral arrangements”.

Only a few days later, Fiat Chairman John Elkann said the Italian carmaker has no plans to buy a stake in Mazda during a shareholders meeting.

Monday, September 17, 2012

The Alfa Romeo stand at the upcoming Paris Motor Show will host two world premieres, the MiTo SBK Limited Edition 1.4 170 HP QV and the MiTo Superbike Special Series. As their name suggests, both models were created to celebrate the Italian brand's sponsorship of the Superbike championship.

First up is the MiTo SBK Limited Edition 1.4-liter 170PS QV of which only 200 examples will be built.

Friday, September 14, 2012

If you think about it, one of the few marques in Europe that has the dynamics, the name and history to truly compete against the dominant premium carmakers from Germany such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz, in all categories and on a global scale, is Alfa Romeo. Which is probably why the VW Group has showed such an interest in the firm.

Too bad the Fiat Group never really allocated the sources or the time to rebuild and refocus the famed Italian brand as a real premium automaker.

In fact, last we heard, Sergio Marchionne has kicked the can down the road (again…) postponing Alfa Romeo's re-entry to the U.S. market and delaying many of its planned models like the 159 replacement.

But we're dragging away from our main story that is a design study from an old acquaintance of CarScoop, Italian designer Marco Procaccini, who sent us these renderings and a video of his newest project.