Fiat 500C convertible coming to U.S.?

The Fiat 500 has win awards from numerous publications and organizations. It’s confirmed that the 500 will hit the U.S. market in July of 2011. Now a convertible variant called the 500C could be close behind. According to several new reports, Fiat has greenlighted the 500C for the U.S. market.

The carmaker has released a new series of 500C convertible images, revealing the car in much better detail.

The new convertible is distinguished by an automated sliding soft-top with an integrated glass backlight and built-in center high mounted stop light. The lining for the roof is a new weather resistant canvas that is available in three different colors, ivory, red and black, and has been designed to match the car’s exterior color palette, which also expands with two new entries - Pearl Red and Warm Grey.

Inside, there's still enough space for four adults but legroom in the rear is ideally suited to small children.

The 500C will receive the same engine options as the 500, which means three powerplants ranging in size from 1.2 to 1.4L. The entry-level 1.2L petrol model develops just 69hp (52kW), while the range topping 1.4L version develops 100hp (75kW). In the middle is the 1.3L Multijet turbodiesel with 75hp (56kW) on tap. Available transmissions include a five-speed manual and robotized Dualogic automatic.

The 500C will also feature Fiat’s fuel-saving start-stop engine technology. Whenever the vehicle comes to a stop and the driver releases the clutch, the engine is switched off and then restarted simply by selecting a gear.

The 500C will come with two trim options: Pop and Lounge. Standard features of the car included electrically operated hood, air conditioning, remote central locking, radio/CD/MP3 player, seven airbags and electrically operated door mirrors. The Lounge models will get the following chief features: climate control, ESP stability control, foglights and rear parking sensors.

The 500C will be first built in Fiat’s Tychy plant in Poland, but could move to Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico plant in 2010. Sales is scheduled for the third quarter of the year.

Fiat adds fuel-saving MultiAir technology to Alfa Romeo MiTo

Fiat is keeping using technological breakthroughs to improve both performance and efficiency in diesel engines. More power, reduced fuel consumption, and lower exhaust emissions, these are features of Fiat’s new technology for petrol engines. The new technology is called MultiAir.

Compared to a traditional petrol engine with the same displacement, MultiAir engines ensure an increase in power (up to 10%) and torque (up to 15%), as well as a considerable reduction in consumption levels (up to 10%) and CO2 emissions (up to 10%), of particulates (up to 40%) and NOx (up to 60%).

The MultiAir engines will be on offer on the Alfa Romeo MiTo starting in September. The MiTo will be available with the MultiAir 1.4 liter 16v engine in three variants, both turbocharged and normally aspirated. Power levels will be 105, 135 and 170 hp and engines will be coupled to both 5 and 6 gear manual transmissions. The 105 and 135 hp variants will be offered on the entire MiTo range while the 170 hp version will be a special edition called the Quadrifoglio Verde MiTo (Green Four-Leaf Clover) which will debut sometime after the launch of the MultiAir system on the MiTo.

The heart of the MultiAir is the new electro-hydraulic valve control system which makes it possible to reduce fuel consumption and polluting emissions. The key to controlling petrol engine combustion, and therefore performance, emissions and fuel consumption, is the quantity and characteristics of the fresh air charge in the cylinders. In conventional petrol engines the air mass trapped in the cylinders is controlled by keeping the intake valve opening constant and adjusting upstream pressure through a throttle valve and camshafts.

One of the drawbacks of this simple conventional mechanical control is that the engine wastes about 10% of the input energy in pumping the air charge from a lower intake pressure to the atmospheric exhaust pressure.
MultiAir is unique in that it uses an electro-hydraulic system to actuate the valves as opposed to the more common electro-mechanical setup. This relatively simple system can alter the timing of the valve's opening and closing in relation to how much power or efficiency is required at any specific moment. Additionally, it draws very little power from the engine.

In the future, MultiAir technology could see its introduction on Fiat's diesel engines.

Spy shots: 2010 Alfa Romeo Milano

Fiat and Chrysler’s alliance has been officially signed, many are anticipating a new Chrysler sedan based on an upcoming Alfa Romeo model. That’s the 2010 Alfa Romeo Milano, which is scheduled to make its debut at this September's Frankfurt Motor Show.

The 2010 Alfa Romeo Milano has been spied testing near the Nurburgring in Germany. Though camouflage does hide the details of its form, the five-door layout and sharing of the new 8C-inspired design theme are evident. The profile and raked belt line are distinctly Alfa, while the outline of the headlights and the protruding grille border indicate that the Milano will bear a style similar to that of the Alfa Romeo Mito.

The 2010 Alfa Romeo Milano is expected to share Fiat’s C-Evo platform with the Lancia Delta and Alfa Romeo Bravo, contrary to earlier reports of the car getting an all-new platform. Power is expected to come from Fiat’s main engine line, starting with a four-cylinder petrol engine developing 90kW, through to a 198kW 3.2 litre V6 mill. And the car will feature Fiat’s Q2 front-wheel-drive system as standard, while the Q4 all-wheel-drive system will appear as an option.

Sometime after the car's debut, a high-performance GTA model, like the MiTo's recently unveiled version, is also expected to join the line-up.

The new Alfa will come despite a planned halt in production to bring stock in line with demand. By splitting the existing 147 line into the MiTo and Milano, it allows the company to retain existing customers of the range while targeting new ones at both ends of the spectrum. The smaller and more efficient MiTo can play toward the younger and more urban crowds, while the Milano should scale well with the more affluent and suburban lifestyles.

Fiat wants to form new company to combine Chrysler and GM Europe

Fiat’s alliance with Chrysler is only the beginning. According to a variety of reports, Fiat has confirmed that it is also considering acquiring General Motors' European operations, including Opel, Vauxhall and even Saab.

To do so the Italian auto giant may form a new company to combine its Fiat car brands (Fiat, Lancia, Alfa Romeo) along with Chrysler and any acquired GM entities. The information was revealed in a statement issued by Fiat’s board on Sunday, which also stated that the new company would earn more than $106 billion in annual revenues and become the world's second-largest auto group after Toyota.

Fiat's board "expressed its full support” for the initiative which will begin in the next few weeks with an assessment of the viability of such an acquisition. Speaking with the Financial Times, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said he wanted to join Fiat’s auto division with Opel, Vauxhall and even Saab. Along with Chrysler, the new entity would have sales of 6 million to 7 million vehicles a year.

Marchionne also said he hopes to complete the transaction by the end of May and list shares of the new company, tentatively called Fiat/Opel, by the middle of the year. Major hurdles to the deal, however, are a rival bid for GM’s European operations from Magna International as well as opposition from German trade unions. Fiat and Marchionne have a long road ahead.

If the deal goes ahead, Fiat and Opel will be able to merge a number of platforms, including A, B, C, and D segment architectures, and reap more than $1 billion in synergies.

Marchionne is a strong believer of mass consolidations and even predicts that the future landscape of the auto industry will see only six carmakers survive - one American house, one German of size, one French-Japanese, maybe with an extension in the U.S., one in Japan, one in China and one potential European player.

Chrysler: Fiat products could reach U.S. showrooms within 18 months

Fiat-based Chrysler products could be sold in the U.S. in as little as 18 months, according to Tom W. LaSorda, Chrysler's now outgoing vice chairman and president.

The big news of the past week is that Chrysler and Fiat have finally managed to forge an alliance, and now Chrysler's bankruptcy proceedings are being pushed through to quickly eliminate any obstacles that the merger may face. Bringing the struggling Detroit 3 carmaker back into the market as quickly as possible will be key to helping in its recovery, and according to outgoing co-president Tom LaSorda a range of new Chrysler vehicles based on Fiat models could be hitting the U.S. market in just 18 months.

While the timeline may seem a little optimistic, LaSorda explained to Edmunds that "18 months is practical" considering that a "lot of pre-work in terms of homologations and emissions" had already been undertaken. Despite this, many analysts are predicting a three-year timetable for a Chrysler-Fiat product to hit the U.S. market - a timetable that LaSorda has acknowledged but still dismissed as being too slow considering the company’s current position.

Chrysler's new brand portfolio, which will be largely based on Fiat products, means that the company will be eliminating certain unprofitable models, as well as models that overlap into other segments and cause internal brand cannibalization. Additionally, Chrysler will sell all of its brands, which now consist of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep, "under one dealership umbrella".

Bob Nardelli, Chrysler's outgoing chairman and CEO, said the Chrysler/Fiat alliance will result in a "much broader portfolio of products" for Chrysler. But a culling of products is to be expected, said executives in a Thursday press conference.

"We will eliminate certain models and duplication of products," said James Press, Chrysler vice chairman and president. "We're bringing all three brands [Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep] under one dealership umbrella."

While an exact rundown of which Fiat vehicles are coming to the U.S. was not forthcoming, LaSorda said that the highly acclaimed Fiat 500 was being considered for local production. Even Chrysler's head designer Ralph Gilles has been keen to bring the Fiat 500 to the U.S. since the beginning of this year. "It is such a fun package. I think Americans, given the chance, will fall in love with this thing," he said.

At the moment, Fiat is considering three different Chrysler plants that could be retooled for production of Fiat vehicles.

Chrysler shows off new Fiat-based sedan at special dealer presentation

Chrysler has showed off several of its planned models at a special dealer presentation held this week at the carmaker’s design dome in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Among the new models was the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 2011 Chrysler 300 sedan, and according to the Wall Street Journal a compact sports sedan from Fiat that will form the basis for a new Chrysler version.


The proposed alliance between Fiat and Chrysler still hasn’t been finalized and with the government’s deadline for restructuring falling at the end of this month dealers understandably are nervous. Add a looming bankruptcy to the mix and stress levels for most dealers will likely be going through the roof. The show off may settle tensions a little and offer some hope.

On hand at the event was Chrysler’s design chief Ralph Gilles who confirmed that the Chrysler version would use the Fiat chassis but will have unique exterior sheet metal. Chrysler doesn’t have a compact sedan in its lineup at the moment and has lacked one ever since the Dodge Neon was discontinued back in 2006. With consumers in the U.S. continuing to downsize to smaller vehicles, even with fuel prices back at the $2 per gallon mark, Chrysler needs to fill the gaping void in its lineup.

There’s been no mention of which Fiat model was shown at the presentation but Chrysler has previously revealed that it will build a sedan based on the Italian carmaker’s C-Evo platform, which currently underpins cars like the Fiat Bravo and Lancia Delta.

Chrysler, in its original viability plan submitted to the U.S. Treasury back in February, showed that it could expand its lineup for very little cost by borrowing several future Fiat models. The alliance will possibly see up to seven new Fiat and Alfa Romeo models sold in the U.S., including some that will be produced in North America for the first time.