car to ride: Fiat

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Fiat Pledges to Keep Italian Plants, Shift Focus to Foreign Markets by Building Chrysler Models

As expected after last week’s announcement, on Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti met with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and the company's Chairman and heir to the Agnelli family empire, John Elkann, to discuss the automaker’s future in the country.

The meeting was arranged after rumors surfaced that Fiat, which is expected to lose around €700 million (US$904.5 million) this year due to a sales slump in the European market, is considering closing some of its plants and moving production out of Italy.

The Fiat 500 is beloved subject for many professional and amateur designers to express their creativity and skills. The 500 concept studies bundled under the Bellavista moniker that you see pictured here are the work of the students from the Polytechnic of Milan and Madeindreams.

The students developed two similar prototypes based on the Abarth 500. The first is a two-seater roadster model with a regular windshield, beefed up wheel arches, a double canopy behind the headrests and re-styled front and rear bumpers.

On Tuesday, two days after two government ministers asked Fiat to clarify its plans, the Italian government announced Prime Minister Mario Monti would meet with Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne on Saturday, September 22, to talk about the company’s “strategic prospects”.

Given that the Fiat Group is the country’s biggest company, the rumors about shutting down some of its Italian plants have caused a lot of concern.

The Fiat Group is once again upping the customization game for its Abarth brand with the launch of the new "Fuori Serie" programme at the Paris Motor Show later this month.

"With the 'Fuori Serie' programme, customers will have the chance to talk personally with the manufacturer to have their Abarths customized down to the smallest detail by a team of specialized Abarth designers, engineers and mechanics," Fiat said in a statement.

Three days before the expiration of the ultimatum that the Canadian Auto workers’ union (CAW) has issued to GM, Ford and Chrysler, the union has made some concessions over the new contract in order to avert a simultaneous strike at all three carmakers' Canadian plants as it has threatened.

The CAW is proposing a lower starting wage for newly hired workers and a longer time for them to reach the top of the pay scale. Moreover, unlike current workers, new employees will contribute to their pensions but will still be entitled to a defined-benefit, not a defined-contribution pension.

The Fiat 500 range may be growing up in size and maturing in character with the new 500L minivan, but the Italian company has given the first commercial for the small MPV a very youthful feel.

Set to air in Europe on September 16, the TV spot reveals the five-door 500L through the eyes of a child and with the help of picturesque special effects.

Fiat's boxy Doblo Cargo van is welcoming a new addition to its range in Britain in the form of the XL model, which follows the Doblo Work Up launched last year.

The new Doblo XL is based on the long wheelbase version adding a higher roof to the mix for a total load volume of 5.0 m³ and a payload of 1,000kg or 2,205 lbs.

For the umpteenth time, Alfa Romeo’s planned reentry in the US market has been put on the table. In October, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne will reveal a new schedule for Alfa’s upcoming models and the brands overseas expansion, which means yet another delay.

Last year, Marchionne revealed the company's new business plan and said that Alfa would return to the States in late 2012 with a small number of its 4C mid-engined coupe. The full-on assault in the US market would begin in mid-2013 with the launch of a compact crossover and at the end of the year, the new Giulia executive saloon.

There is a new small crossover in town and it's named the 2013 Fiat Panda 4x4. It was revealed today ahead of a world premiere at forthcoming international Paris Motor Show in late September.

Billed as the only four-wheel drive car in the A-segment, the Panda 4x4 is the latest generation of a model series that spans back almost 30 years.

Based on the regular five-door Panda tall hatchback, the 4x4 is 3,680mm long, 1,670mm wide and 1,600mm tall. It rides on a 2,300mm wheelbase and has a front track of 1,410mm and a rear track of 1,400mm.

If there's something the Fiat brand knows all too well is that new trim editions can help stir some attention and boost sales.

Joining a long line of special versions of its retro-penned city car is the new 500 Street for the UK market, which can be identified on the outside by dark tinted windows and alloy wheels (with red surrounds for the center caps) and satin chrome finished mouldings, handles and door mirrors.

Think that BMW North America's move to offer one-day-only heavy discounts on July 31 just to get one over Mercedes-Benz is the only act of questionable ethics in the business these days? Well, you had better reconsider, as things seem to be much worse in Germany.

Yes, you read correctly, Germany - the country that is supposedly immune to the financial crisis that is threatening the rest of the Eurozone and its very existence.

The numbers provided by the ACEA, the European automotive industry association, show that in the first half of the year the German car market grew 0.7 percent.

Chrysler announced today that the union workers of its Dundee engine plant in Michigan rejected the carmaker’s proposed new contract. However, despite the spat with the employees, Chrysler spokesperson Jodi Tinson said that production will continue. Read more »

New 2013 Fiat 500 Turbo Touts 135-Horses and a $19,500 Starting Price [w/Video]

If you can do without some of the zest of the 160HP Abarth 500 in order to save a couple thousand dollars but still want more power than the regular 101HP 500, the Italian automaker has something new for you in the form of the 2013 Fiat 500 Turbo.

Making its debut today at the Concorso Italiano in Monterey, California, the 500 Turbo will go on sale in the United States this fall with an MSRP of $19,500 (€15800), or $2,500 less than the Abarth 500 that starts at $22,000. Keep in mind that all prices exclude a $700 destination charge.

We already knew that Fiat had plans to expand its 500L small minivan range but now we can give you a taste of what the Italian company is preparing for the very near future with these official patent fillings.

We found three different sets of sketches and renderings, the first of which, is the regular Fiat 500L with five seats that has already been unveiled and is set to reach European dealerships in late September and October (depending on the country) and in North America during the course of 2013.

The next model is easily identified as the seven-seater version of the small minivan, with some sources claiming that it will be named 500XL.

In order to create enough space for the addition of a third row of seats, most likely meant for children, this model is said to be around 150mm longer than the five-seat 500L. These renderings suggest that the 500XL has the same wheelbase as the 500L with the extra length going in the rear overhang.

When you are the chief executive officer of a large company that operates a variety of brands under its umbrella like Sergio Marchionne does as he heads the Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC Alliance, you have many choices when it comes to your personal rides – from petite Fiat 500s to exotic Ferrari supercars like the F12berlinetta.

For the Canadian-born Italian, one of the cars parked under his garage is a blacked out Dodge Challenger SRT8.

The expansion of the Fiat 500 series in Britain after the recent additions of the sporty Abarth 595 Turismo and 595 Competizione models continues this month with the launch of a new range called 'Colour Therapy'.

The new trim level is positioned between 500 Pop and Lounge specifications and according to Fiat, it was designed to "bring back the spirit of the 1970s with a collection of vibrant colours and retro white detailing".

Given Alfa Romeo's prior history, you should always take whatever you hear about the Italian automaker's future plans with a grain of salt.

This time, its UK magazine Autocar that has come up with a mix of new information and previously known details about Alfa's 159 replacement, which is currently referred to with its internal but not final name, Giulia.

Germany's G-Tech tuning took the standard, mostly boring Fiat 500 and turned it into something worth drooling over.

First and foremost, they made it less bumpy. Chopping up the roof and shrinking it down some, the Fiat 500 Sportster now looks worthy of the sporty description. The baby blue paint job also makes it easier on the eyes.

Leaving the looks aside, it goes without saying that in order to make any Fiat 500 truly "sporty" you will have to add some extra ponies.

Under the hood, the standard 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine has received a complete overhaul. As the buyer decides, the choice of either 335bhp or 221bhp is available on tap – though we don't get any specific details on the modifications made.

For some, Dodge and NASCAR go together like beer and ride-on lawn mowers but after Penske Racing's surprise decision in February to end its partnership with the Chrysler Group brand at the end of the 2012 season and switch to Ford as its manufacturer for Sprint Cup cars in 2013, the Detroit automaker didn't have a lot of options, or so it claims (see below).

In a press conference today, SRT Motorsports President and CEO Ralph Gilles said that the automaker tried hard its best to find a company to replace Penske Racing as a builder for its competition engines, but failed to a come up with a viable solution.

The new model year brings improved standard equipment and a price cut to the base version as well as the addition two new model names to the UK range of the Fiat 500 Abarth.

The freshly launched Abarth 595 Turismo and the 595 Competizione are available in both coupe and convertible body styles featuring the more powerful 160hp version of the turbocharged 1.4-liter T-Jet petrol engine from the 500 Essesse.

car to ride

Fiat Pledges to Keep Italian Plants, Shift Focus to Foreign Markets by Building Chrysler Models

Fiat 500 Bellavista Design Concepts for Stylish Speedster and Roadster Variants

Fiat-Chrysler CEO to Meet with Italian PM Amid Fears About Automaker's Future in the Country

Abarth Announces New "Fuori Serie" Customization Programme, Presents 131 Mirafirori Livery for 500

CAW Makes Some Concessions Over New Contract with Detroit 3, Carmakers Still Undecided

Sneak Preview of Fiat's Lighthearted Commercial for the New 500L Minivan

Fiat Expands Doblo Cargo Van Range with New XL Version in the UK

Alfa Romeo’s Return to the U.S. Postponed Again as Marrchione Changes Original Schedule

Fiat Unveils Tougher Looking 2013 Panda 4x4 Crossover In Advance of the Paris Auto Show

Fiat Launches More Lavishly Equipped 500 Street Edition in the UK

Das Ist Verrückt: 30 Percent of German June Car Sales Were Registered to Dealers and Carmakers!

Chrysler’s Dundee Engine Plant Workers Reject New Contract, Production Not Affected

New 2013 Fiat 500 Turbo Touts 135-Horses and a $19,500 Starting Price [w/Video]

New Fiat 500XL with Seven Seats and 500L Trekking Minivans Revealed in Official Patent Drawings

Meet Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne's Weekend Ride

New Fiat 500 Colour Therapy Edition Remembers the 1970s

Upcoming 2014 Alfa Romeo 159/Giulia Looking to Rival German Competition

G-Tech Turns the Fiat 500 into a Chop-Top Baby Blue Sportster

It's Official: Dodge to Withdraw from NASCAR in 2013

Fiat Launches New Abarth 595 Turismo and 595 Competizione in Britain