Alfa Romeo Focuses on the Giulietta and 2011MY MiTo at the Geneva Show

The Fiat Group will have a particularly strong presence at the Geneva Motor Show this year, as it’s planning to reveal a bevy of new models and concept cars. Alfa Romeo’s offering at the Swiss salon will be centered on the Giulietta compact and 2011MY MiTo subcompact models, with two of each scheduled to go on display. And for those of you wondering, Alfa's press release made no mention of the rumored concept sports coupe based on the underpinnings of the KTM X-Bow.

First up is the 170HP Giulietta Distinctive fitted with a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine mated to the Alfa TCT dual-clutch automatic transmission and a Start-Stop system, which returns 5.2 lt/100 km (45.2 US mpg) on the combined cycle. The show car is customized with a Sport Pack package that includes 18-inch alloys (17” wheels also available), side skirts, seats clad in fabric-leather upholstery, aluminum inserts, metallic headlight frames and dark interior.

The standard equipment list includes the Alfa DNA dynamic vehicle control system with a Q2 electronic differential, VDC with ASR and Hill Holder, six airbags, front seatbelts with dual pre-tensioner and front anti-whiplash headrests.

The second Giulietta to go on display is the range-topping Quadrifoglio Verde 1750 TBi with a Rosso Competizione paintjob, powered by a direct-injection and turbocharged 1.8-liter four-pot with 235HP and 340 Nm (251 lb-ft) of peak torque. Only available with this engine, the Quadrifoglio Verde trim level comes with 17-inch rims (18-inch wheels are optional), more powerful brakes and a sporty interior, with fabric-leather seats.

Both Giuliettas feature the Blue&Me-TomTom system that allows owners to operate the telephone, sound system, navigation and other driving aids through one, 6.5-inch color touch-screen.

The Italian automaker’s stand will feature the 2011MY MiTo subcompact as well, which goes on sale in April. The refreshed model gets a new choice of exterior colors and interior fabrics, plus an extended list of optional equipment and a revised Quadrifoglio version powered by a 170HP four-cylinder engine.

To make it more appealing, the 2011MY MiTo Quadrifoglio comes with a new surround under the Alfa badge, modified Quadrifoglio Verde logos and chrome mirror housings, door handles and headlight/taillight frames. The optional 18-inch wheels round up the exterior changes.

Inside, the sportiest MiTo comes with the Sabelt sport seats (also an optional item) wrapped in an Alcantara-fabric combination, black color scheme and green-white seams found on the seats, steering wheel, hand brake lever and gear shifter knob.

What Were They Thinking? When Alfa Romeo Rebadged a Nissan to Create the Arna

When the Nissan Versa was launched in Australia as the Tiida, many automotive watchers were excited by the prospect of blending Renault’s European flair with Nissan’s Japanese reliability. “Here,” they said, “Is a car that’ll please everyone.”

What they got was a narrow-bodied subcompact with so-so styling, a plasticy dashboard, a shocking lack of equipment and an overinflated price tag. Not to mention Kim Cattrall in the TV spots. If this sounds strangely familiar to our older readers, you’re right on the money. Twenty-three years before the crossbred Tiida hit Australian shores, another mongrel was being birthed in Europe.

It was 1983, and Alfa Romeo had just launched the Arna, an acronym for “Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli”. The Arna was essentially a N12 series Nissan Pulsar / Cherry with the engine, transmission and front suspension from Alfa’s popular if rust-prone Alfasud. Built in Alfa’s new Pratola Serra factory near Naples, the Arna had the mechanical reliability of the Alfasud and all the style and grace of the Cherry.

In other words, it was a dog.

Although it was available with either of Alfa’s 1.2L or 1.5L flat-four boxer engines, the fact remains that it was a dull Japanese hatchback built by the same uncaring, unionized Italian labour force that had built the Alfasud. In one final irony, the Arna was deported exported to Japan as the Nissan Pulsar Milano, probably giving the Japanese peoples their first (and last) taste of ‘80s Italian engineering.

The Arna died a quiet death in 1987, replaced with the Pininfarina-designed Alfa Romeo 33. The 33 was by no means a great car, though after the Arna, many Alfaistas would have welcomed an yearly rail pass with open arms. Nissan continued to sell the Cherry / Pulsar in Europe, though never met great success in Europe’s highly competitive subcompact car market until the launch of the K11 Micra in 1992. For both manufacturers, the Arna was a miserable failure, remembered only by auto watchers such as yours truly.

Marchionne gets Nasty, Tells VW Boss Piech to go and Fix SEAT Instead of Eyeing Alfa Romeo

Speaking at the J.D. Power and Associates International Automotive Round-table in San Francisco, Fiat Group and Chrysler LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne bluntly reiterated that the Italians won’t sell Alfa Romeo to the Volkswagen Group, or anyone else for that matter.

“As long as I am CEO of Chrysler and Fiat, Mr. Piech will never have Alfa Romeo. It's hands-off. I told him. I will call him and I will email him”, Marchionne said.

According to Automotive News Europe, Marchionne also took a shot at VW, saying that the group's Chairman Ferdinand Piech should try to turn around Seat, its struggling Spanish brand, instead of eyeing Alfa.

“I'm not the one who bought Seat. He's the one who bought it. I don't know if he can [fix it], but he needs to try”, the Italian official commented.

We’ll remind you that selling Alfa Romeo has been a hot topic for the past year or so, but Fiat never confirmed the rumors, periodically stating that it prefers to revitalize the Milanese company. Prior to Marchionne’s latest remark, it was Fiat Chairman John Elkann who also said that Alfa is not for sale.

“We would not sell Alfa even if we were offered tons of money”, Elkann told reporters on the sidelines of last month’s Detroit Auto Show, adding that the brand will be relaunched in the U.S. in 2012.

Alfa Romeo UK Adds New Diesel with 140HP and 62.8 MPG to Giulietta Lineup

A newly developed 2.0-liter JTDM engine has made its way under the hood of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta in the UK. The four-cylinder turbocharged diesel unit, which delivers 140HP at 4,000 rpm and 320Nm of peak torque in 'Normal' mode and 350Nm in 'Dynamic' mode, gets the latest generation JTDM-2 MultiJet Common Rail system that is already present on the 105HP 1.6 JTDM-2 and the 170HP 2.0 JTDM-2 engines.

Alfa Romeo says that with this diesel engine, the Giulietta can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 9 seconds en route to a top speed of 127 mph (204 km/h), while returning a combined fuel consumption of 62.8 mpg UK (52.3 mpg US or 4.5 lt/100km) with CO2 emissions of 119g/km.

The new engine is Euro 5 compliant and is equipped with DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) and Start&Stop as standard.

On-the-road prices for the Giulietta 2.0 JTDM-2 in the UK are set at £20,144.47 for the Lusso model and £21,444.47 for the better equipped Veloce.

Alfa Romeo Celebrates Support of UK Athletics with New MiTo Sprint

Automakers find all kind of excuses to create special edition versions of their cars, and by special edition we actually mean better equipped models. For Alfa Romeo, the raison d'être of the new MiTo Sprint is "the continued support of UK Athletics (UKA)". Wonder what they'll think of next...

Well, in any case, the new UK market MiTo Sprint is available in UKA ‘Union Jack’ inspired colors (red, white or blue), and comes with some £1,500 worth of extras, including cruise control, leather steering wheel and gear stick, remote audio controls on the steering wheel, Blue&Me Bluetooth hands-free system with voice recognition, and media player with a USB port.

In addition, the special version also features a rear spoiler, 16-inch alloy wheels, fog lights, and unique Sprint badging.

UK buyers have a choice of two petrol engines, the 1.4 16V 95 bhp costing £13,295 OTR and the 1.4 TB MultiAir 135 bhp with ALFA TCT automatic transmission priced £16,395 OTR, and one diesel unit, the 1.3 JTDM-2 95 bhp version which starts at £14,845 OTR.

Alfa Romeo Rumored [Again] to be Planning a KTM X-Bow-based Sports Car

At this year’s Geneva Motor Show, Alfa Romeo may take the audience by surprise with a lightweight, mid-engine and rear-wheel drive coupe concept that will eventually become the Italian maker’s next affordable halo car, reportedly named 4C GTA.

According to an Automotive News Europe [ANE] report, a Fiat spokesman has confirmed that development is underway, however the Geneva debut is uncertain due to “delays in the concept model construction”.

The brand’s last affordable rear-wheel drive model was the “Classic Spider”, which was discontinued in 1994, leaving a gap that was never filled by Alfa Romeo. True, the limited run 8C Competizione, built between 2007 and 2008, was an impressive car, but with a price tag of over €200,000 (US $276,160) it was simply too expensive for the average Alfa buyer.

The new model is said to go on sale in Europe by late 2012 with a base price of €40,000 (or about US $55,244). According to inside sources, Alfa plans to build up to 25,000 units by the end of 2017. If true, the 4C GTA could also make it to the States, but nothing’s final yet.

The role of the 4C GTA is clear: it’s expected to attract customers to the firm's showrooms, where the upcoming 159 replacement and the brand’s first SUV model should convince them to sign on the dotted line.

Sources stated it will be styled by Alfa’s own design center in Turin and that the “rakish, very compact and extremely low two-seat coupe” will make use of modified version of the KTM X-Bow platform, originally engineered by Italy’s Dallara Automobili for the Austrian motorcycle maker. Power is said to come from the Giulietta’s 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, expected to deliver over 250HP.

Let’s that just hope that if the 4C GTA rumors turn out to be real, the sports car will be instantly recognizable as a true Alfa Romeo and not a rebadged X-Bow.

Alfa Romeo Milano Fully Revealed in Factory Photos!

That sound you hear are the cracks forming on the walls of Alfa Romeo's assembly plant in Italy as believe it or not, someone managed to leave the factory with what appear to be mobile phone photos of the all-new Milano. The surprisingly revealing gallery, which comes only a day after an initial leak on Friday, made its way on a Facebook group page exposing the Italian compact hatchback from several angles and even gives us our first view of the dashboard and center console.

To a lesser extent than the smaller MiTo, the five-door Milano has an all-new body design with styling cues that refer directly to the Alfa 8C Competizione. These include the oval-shaped headlamps and arrow-like bonnet lines that end with the deep Alfa shield grille, but not the round tail lamps as the Italian designers opted for a totally different design at the back.

Like the 147 hatchback that it will replace, the Milano's rear door handles are hidden in the door pillars for a smoother look that gives the illusion from a distance that this is a sportier three-door hatch.

The interior shots reveal that the Milano will feature a sporty instrument panel with two deeply set gauges at either side, a design trait seen in most modern Alfas including the MiTo and the 159.

Styling aside, the Milano uses the latest version of the Fiat Group's C- and D-segment platform which is known internally as the C-Evo. It is not clear yet if the Milano will hit the European market before the end of the year or in the beginning of 2010, but when it does, Alfa's BMW 1-Series rival is expected to be initially offered with 1.4-liter and 1.75-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines producing up to 200HP+, as well as with the usual turbo diesel line up.

Photos via: Facebook

Alfa Romeo Milano Exposed on the Assembly Line!

So much for Alfa Romeo's attempts keep the prototype models of the forthcoming Milano hatchback under cover. Our fellow Italian bloggers at Autoblog.it have published a photograph of the 147's replacement that was apparently shot at the assembly line, exposing the Milano's snout for the first time. As anticipated, the Milano's front-end styling takes cues from both the MiTo and the 8C Competizione, with the photo revealing that some versions will get a set of daytime running lights comprising a strip of LEDs on each side of the headlamps.

Similar in size to the Volkswagen Golf, the Alfa Romeo Milano is the Fiat Group's proposal in the premium compact hatchback segment aimed squarely at the BMW 1-Series and Audi A3.

Underneath the sheetmetal lies the latest version of the Fiat Group's C- and D-segment platform which is known as the C-Evo. Powertrain options for the Milano are expected to include 1.4-liter and 1.75-liter turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines producing up to 200HP+ and of course, numerous four-pot diesel engines.

For more info on the Milano, click here to read our previous post that includes spy shots from the 'Ring.

Via: Autoblog.it

Dodge May Sell Rebadged Alfas in the US while Europe Could get Dodge Models as Alfas

In an interview in New York on Wednesday, Fiat S.p.A. and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed that one of the first priorities of the partnership is to decide how to handle the Dodge and Alfa Romeo brands, which he sees as American and European counterparts. It sounds crazy but one of the scenarios being examined by Marchionne is the possibility to sell Alfa Romeo models under the Dodge brand in the U.S. and Dodge cars as Alfa Romeos in Europe.

According to the CEO, the two brands share a common identity and therefore should work closer in the near future.

"The level of competition between these two brands is tremendous because they are both going after the same customer," said Marchionne. "Dodge is the American muscle car, while Alfa Romeo is the European muscle car. How we dovetail these two brands is very important."

While we're having a hard time trying to find any current Dodge model that could fit in Alfa's European range - especially if you take into consideration the different needs of buyers on the other side of the Atlantic, we could see several Alfa models including the MiTo making it to the States with the Dodge logo.

But wouldn't such a move dilute Alfa's premium image? Unless that is, Fiat is considering to abandon its plans to re-introduce the Italian firm to American buyers.

In any case, Marchionne said that he wants to make a final decision on the future of the two brands by the end of the July, so it won't be long before we learn more details.

Alfa Romeo 8C Spider to Climb Goodwood Hill

The first Alfa Romeo 8C Spider production car to be seen on the move in Britain will participate at next weekend's Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Spider will be joined on the hill by several famous motor racing cars from Alfa's historic museum collection in Arese, Italy, including a 1924 P2 Gran Premio which won the first World Championship in 1925 and the 6C 3000 CM that was driven to second place by Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1953 Mille Miglia.

The Italian firm which is a year shy of its 100th anniversary, said that it will also bring along two special concept cars, the wedge-shaped 1968 Alfa Carabo featuring hydropneumatic-powered gull-wing doors and multi-coloured one way glass windows, and the 1978 Najavo study.