2018 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Sport 4dr Sedan on 2040-cars

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China-FCA merger could be a win-win for everyone but politicians

NEW YORK — Fiat Chrysler boss Sergio Marchionne has said the car industry needs to come together, cut costs and stop incinerating capital. So far, his words have mostly fallen on deaf ears among competitors in Europe and North America. But it appears Marchionne has finally found a receptive audience — in China. FCA shares soared Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported the $18 billion Italian-American conglomerate controlled by the Agnelli family rebuffed a takeover from an unidentified carmaker from the Chinese mainland. As ugly as the politics of such a combination may appear at first blush, a transaction could stack up industrially, and perhaps even financially. A Sino-U.S.-European merger would create the first truly global auto group. That could push consolidation to the next level elsewhere. Moreover, China is the world's top market for the SUVs that Jeep effectively invented, so it might benefit FCA financially. A combo would certainly help upgrade the domestic manufacturer; Chinese carmakers have gotten better at making cars, but struggle to build global brands, and they need to develop export markets. Though frivolous overseas shopping excursions by Chinese enterprises are being reined in by Beijing, acquisitions that support the modernization and transformation of strategic industries still receive support, and the government considers the automotive industry to be strategic. A purchase of FCA by Guangzhou Automobile, Great Wall or Dongfeng Motors would probably get the same stamp of approval ChemChina was given for its $43 billion takeover of Syngenta. What's standing in the way? Apart from price (Automotive News said FCA's board deemed the offer insufficient) there's the not-insignificant matter of politics. Even as FCA shares soared, President Donald Trump interrupted his vacation to instruct the U.S. Trade Representative to look into whether to investigate China's trade policies on intellectual property. Seeing storied Detroit brands like Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Dodge handed off to a Chinese company would provoke howls among Trump's economic-nationalist supporters. It might not play well in Italy, either, to see Alfa Romeo and Maserati answering to Wuhan instead of Turin — though Automotive News said they might be spun off separately. Yet, as Morgan Stanley observes, "cars don't ship across oceans easily," and political considerations increasingly demand local manufacture of valuable products.

2024 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia add special trims, small updates

The 2024 Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia aren't much different from 2023 models, but there are some notable and welcome updates to each line. They include some small styling and feature updates for every trim, a new range-topper for the standard engine, and a super special edition and a performance upgrade for the Quadrifoglio. Every new Stelvio and Giulia gets updated exterior features to match their European siblings, such as LED headlights with smoked housings and a new grille insert. Inside, the analog dials are replaced with a 12.3-inch digital display that can show a variety of information in different layouts, including one that mimics the classic double dial design. The new Alfas also are able to accept updates over the air. 2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Competizione View 25 Photos One of the more exciting updates to these Alfas is the 100th Anniversary Edition Quadrifoglio. It's available on both the Stelvio and Giulia, and only 100 of each will be offered globally. It's not very different to a regular Quadrifoglio, though except for gold-painted brake calipers, special badging, carbon fiber mirrors and grille, Alcantara seats and gold stitching. But it does benefit from a new feature added to all Quadrifoglio models: an actual mechanical limited-slip differential. That brings us to the Competizione trim. For the normal, four-cylinder Stelvio and Giulia, this is the new top of the line. It takes the former range-topper, the Veloce, and it adds some performance and luxury upgrades. It comes with electronically adjustable suspension and a limited-slip differential, along with sport seats. The interior also gets a leather-wrapped dashboard, red contrast stitching, darker window tint and a 14-speaker Harman Kardon sound system. Buyers can get it with an exclusive matte gray paint and red brake calipers. The Giulia can be optioned with staggered wheels, and the Stelvio gets unique 21-inch wheels. The Giulia Competizione starts at $53,115 for rear-wheel drive and $55,115 for all-wheel drive. The Stelvio is all-wheel-drive only, and it starts at $57,420. They go on sale in the second quarter of this year. Related video:

Alfa Romeo Giulia is going electric

In an interview with Auto Express, Alfa Romeo's CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato revealed a bunch of details about the future of the company and electric vehicles. But the most interesting is that, despite the world's insatiable appetite for SUVs, the Giulia sport sedan will get another generation, and one that's entirely electric. Apparently, the car will be built on the STLA Large platform, one of several EV architectures Stellantis announced back July. Considering that there will be STLA Small and STLA Medium platforms, we're a little surprised that Alfa would go with the big option, since the current Giulia isn't particularly big. It could be that Alfa is aiming for particularly long range from the next Giulia, and maybe even more interior space. We bring up range because the Large platform is said to accept 101-kWh to 118-kWh of battery capacity and up to 500 miles of range. It may also be sharing the platform and development with the future Stelvio, like the current one does with the Giorgio platform. Imparato also talked a bit about the high-performance Quadrifoglio models. The company is definitely still open to them in the electric era, but only if they can make them perform the way they want. That seems unlikely to be an issue for a couple of reasons. One, Imparato told Auto Express that the man who helped develop the Giulia Quadrifoglio GTA is on the team developing STLA Large. The other is that Stellantis has a wild range of motors planned. At the low end will be 94-horsepower motors, but at the other will be 402-horsepower units. There should be a pairing in there that finds a good balance between raw power and finesse, especially when just one makes around 80% of the power of the current Quadrifoglio's twin-turbo V6. Stellantis aims to have its 500-mile STLA Large platform cars, among the others, ready for 2024. Odds seem good that the electric Alfas will start showing up at that time, since the brand is planning to be fully electric in 2027. That will make it the first Stellantis brand to be entirely electric. Related Video: 2021 Jeep Wrangler 4xe plug-in hybrid powertrain feature walkthrough | Autoblog