Scoop: Is This a Fiat Qubo-Based Ram Model or Something Else?

There's so much going on with the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance these days that's it actually hard to keep up. The constant changes to the group's product plan don't help either.

At the end of January, for example, Chrysler released a revised business plan for the North American market, axing previously announced models, adding new ones and delaying others.

Adding to the confusing is the appearance of camouflaged vehicles like this prototype minivan, which if we're not mistaken, was filmed by KGP Photography testing in Colorado.

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Fiat-Chrysler's Revised Product Plan Drops Chrysler and Dodge Models, Adds Alfas and Fiats

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.

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Euro NCAP Announces the Safest Cars of 2012 in Each Segment

Safety is something not to be taken lightly as far as cars are concerned. Euro NCAP, the independent organization that was established by seven European governments and has been conducting crash-tests since 1997, has been a key player in improving the level of passive and active safety offered by today’s new cars.

In 2012, it tested 36 new vehicles that became available in European markets. Most of them performed well enough to earn a five-star rating, though some did better than others in the four individual categories, namely adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, pedestrian protection and safety assist systems, and earned the “Best in Class” title for their respective segments (two of them tied in the Mini MPV class).

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Mazda and Fiat Sign Deal for New Alfa Romeo Spider, will be Made in Japan from 2015

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.

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Fiat-Chrysler CEO Marchionne Uses Racial Slur for New Alfa Romeo Engine

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.

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China's GAC Group Shows Off its Goods, Announces Chrysler Tie-Up at 2013 NAIAS

Towards the end of the previous decade, we remember several Chinese automakers making their way to the Detroit Auto Shows vowing to begin selling cars in the United States. Unless we missed something, that never happened.

At this year's event, the only carmaker from China is the GAC Group (Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Ltd), which brought along three vehicles, including the Trumpchi sedan that's loosely based on the Alfa Romeo 166, the Trumpchi GS5 SUV and the electric-powered E-jet concept saloon you see in the live shots from Detroit.

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Fiat 500 Abarth Tenebra and 500 Cativa Concepts on Display in Detroit [Live Photos]

It may not be a standalone brand yet, as reports have suggested, but the 500 family is nevertheless expanding rapidly with five-door minivan and crossover offsoots.

That’s not to say that Chrysler’s Italian partner has left the standard, three-door 500 alone: after introducing the 160HP 500C Abarth and the all-electric 500e at LA last November, today it unveiled two design concepts at the 2013 North American International Auto Show.

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Fiat Turns Catchy Viral Ad 'The Motherhood' into Mobile Ringtones

We knew from the first time we heard Fiat’s catchy new rap-tune 'The Motherhood', which was created for the 500L, that it wouldn't be long before it takes the internet by storm, and we were proven right, as the original video has since garnered more than 2.6 million views on YouTube. Read more »

Fiat Sets New All-Time Sales Record in Brazil with 838,000 Deliveries in 2012

Italy's largest carmaker Fiat set new production and sales records in Brazil in 2012, posting its best ever results in the 36-years that it has been operating in the South American country.

The automaker said on Thursday that it sold 838,219 passenger and light commercial vehicles, representing an 11.1 percent increase over 2011 when it delivered 754,276 units, and a 10.2 percent increase over the previous sales record of 760,495 units that was set in 2010.

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Fiat Group Plans to Re-Launch Alfa Romeo…Again, Product Plan Shows 9 New Models

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.

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Fiat CEO Defiant Amid Analysts’ Dim Predictions, Believes Upscale Products will Save Italian Plants

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.

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Fiat Confirms Production of New 500X and Small Jeep CUV at Italy's Melfi Plant

With rumors floating around since October, today it was  finally confirmed that the Fiat-Chrysler Alliance will build the new Fiat 500X and a closely related Jeep-badged small crossover at the company's Melfi assembly plant in Italy beginning in 2014.

The announcement was made on Thursday at the Fiat plant in Melfi with company Chairman John Elkann and CEO Sergio Marchionne presenting the production plans. Italy's Prime Minister Mario Monti was also in attendance.

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Did You Notice Something Out of Place in this Picture?

Here's a hint; unlike the original Fiat Cinquecento produced from 1957 to 1975, which sported a two-cylinder, air-cooled engine positioned at the rear end of the car turning the wheels right below it, its spiritual successor, the Nuova 500 of the 21st century, features a traditional layout with the engine mounted up front driving the front wheels.

Well, as the crew from Jalopnik eloquently put it on their posting, "someone is living in the past"…

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Mom Style: 'The Motherhood' feat. Fiat 500L Music Commercial is Pure Genius

Forget about South Korean rapper PSY and his hugely successful Gangnam Style music video; there's a new tune on the block that might just capture your attention.

With so many ads coming our way, most of the times we just watch a few seconds and then fast forward to the end, but that never happened with Fiat UK's new, full length music clip / commercial for the soon to be launched 500L small MPV.

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New Fiat 500L Small MPV Lands in the UK Priced from £14,990 [78 Photos]

Fiat has confirmed pricing and specification details for the all-new 500L small minivan in Britain, just before the car goes on sale. The 500L starts at £14,990 OTR for the base 1.4-liter petrol Pop Star and tops out at £18,890 OTR for the 1.6-liter diesel Lounge variant.

The newest member of Fiat's growing family of 500 models is longer than a Punto supermini and as wide as a Bravo compact hatch offering more interior height than either model.

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Panda Monster Truck was Built by Fiat on a Jeep Floor to Star in a New TV Spot [w/Video]

Earlier this month, CarScoop reader Tommaso A. shared with us a handful of pictures and a video of a monster truck version of the latest Fiat Panda 4x4 that he spotted in Italy. At the time, we had no information regarding the build, but Fiat has now shed some light to the project.

As it turns out, the monster Panda prototype was created by Fiat itself in collaboration with Mercurio Cinematografica, set designer Andrea Faini and the Fabio Gementi Workshop, for an upcoming television spot that will air in Europe in the beginning of 2013.

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Marchionne Chooses U.S. Soil to Get Back at Germans by Offering Discounts to VW Owners

Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has accused the VW Group of taking advantage of its overseas profits to undercut its rivals in the European market and, thus, create a “bloodbath” for their sales.

Despite VW calling for his resignation as president of the ACEA, the European Auto Manufacturers’ Association, they subsequently made up, with VW CEO Martin Winterkorn and Marchionne settling the issue during the Paris Auto Show.

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Fiat Group to Launch Jeep Brand in India Next Year

After China, the Fiat Group is eyeing another major emerging market to launch its Jeep brand, that of India. The Italian carmaker's Indian arm, Fiat Group Automobiles India Private Limited (FGAIPL), announced on Thursday that the Jeep brand will be introduced in the country towards the end of 2013. Read more »

Nissan Says “Look Who’s Talking” After Fiat Implied that the Leaf is a Visual Pollution

It seems that “green” vehicles are the new field of confrontation between big automotive groups. After Ford attacked Toyota’s Prius claiming it’s inferior to the Blue Oval’s C-MAX Energi, Nissan and Fiat got into a fight about their EVs' designs.

Before the launch of the all-electric 500e at last week’s LA Auto Show, head of Fiat product marketing Matt Davis told Bloomberg News: “Let’s be honest, ugliness is probably one of the worst forms of pollution. The Fiat 500e proves that you do not have to give up on good looks to deliver an electric car.”

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Fiat 500c Abarth's New Topless Ad with Catrinel Menghia is Wickedly Cheeky

If there's one thing Fiat has proven to do well in North America, is capture viewers' attention with its ads - well, at least after it learned its lesson with those out of touch commercials starring Jenifer Lopez.

Exactly a year after the Italians launched the 500 Abarth “Seduction” spot with supermodel Catrinel Menghia at the 2011 LA Auto Show, at the same event this year, Fiat released a new commercial for its 500c Abarth, which is the partially open-top version of the series.

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