2021 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Sport Awd on 2040-cars

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FCA reportedly joins the crowd skipping this year's Paris Motor Show

It's likely FCA vehicles will not be seen at the Paris Motor Show this year. Automotive News is reporting that Fiats, Alfa Romeos, Jeeps and Abarths will not be a part at the show, based on information circulating in the French media. There's a possibility that Maseratis will be displayed at a special section dedicated to upscale cars, but Maserati too will not have a show stand of its own. Ferrari will have a stand, but as it happens, the supercar maker has been a standalone brand since 2015. Skipping the Paris show follows FCA's decision not to take part in the Frankfurt show last year, and the two shows alternate as the biggest autumnal automotive show in Europe. Volkswagen will also not attend the event, and neither will Ford, Nissan or Infiniti. This has become a problem for car shows worldwide, including Detroit's North American International Auto Show. FCA has not released a formal statement about the matter, but a FCA spokesman, quoted by the French magazine L'Argus, reportedly said that the sales and publicity brought in by the show stand would not justify the costs of attending. The news mirrors Volvo's newly announced plan to not take part at the next Geneva Motor Show, but to arrange "bespoke activities" to introduce its cars instead. Related Video:

Buyers resent low inventories, prices over MSRP, study says

Vehicle inventory low, vehicle transaction prices high, customers fretting … welcome, J.D. Power, to the era of supply and demand. In a recently published survey from one of the auto industryÂ’s top analytical firms, findings show that customers' satisfaction with vehicle purchases in the United States this year has dipped for the first time in 10 years. The 2022 U.S. Sales Satisfaction Index (SSI) Study found that overall sales satisfaction has dropped to 786 (on a 1,000-point scale) from 789 in 2021. In that year, higher than expected trade-in values softened the effect of new vehicle price increases. But in 2022, on top of trade-in prices shrinking, many dealers elected to charge more than the ManufacturerÂ’s Suggested Retail Price, a factor that did not sit well with buyers. “When dealers charge more than MSRP, particularly with long-term loyal customers, they risk a potential long-term negative effect on customer advocacy and service business," said Chris Sutton, vice president of automotive retail at J.D. Power. Satisfaction among buyers who paid more than sticker price is 757, while satisfaction among those who paid the sticker price or less is 850, the Power report said. The lack of dealership inventory was also a customer irritant, J.D. Power found, a point that automakers and their dealers may want to consider. Many have maintained, or considered maintaining, a smaller inventory in the wake of the pandemic, keeping costs down and driving more customers toward factory orders. Regarding those consumers shopping for electric vehicles, the survey said that more than a third of them “failed to get instruction on EV charging before they left the dealership, which notably affects satisfaction.” Said Sutton, “Salespeople donÂ’t need to show gas-powered vehicle buyers how to fill their tank, but they do need to show EV buyers how to charge their vehicle.” There are positives to the Power conclusions, however, especially for Alfa Romeo dealers. The Italian brand ranked highest in customer satisfaction among premium brands with a score of 833, with Porsche a very close second (831) and Lexus (819) third. Alfa is on something of a roll these days, with its compact Tonale crossover due for release in the spring, and a new sports car in the works. Meanwhile, in PowerÂ’s “mainstream brand”” segment, Buick ranked first with a score of 825, followed by Dodge (816) and Subaru (804), all performing higher than the industry average.

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale is a fast Alfa, developed fast

Alfa Romeo's 33 Stradale is a gorgeous supercar to simultaneously cap off the internal combustion era of the brand and kick off the electric era. But we did have some questions about it after the reveal, which we brought to Larry Dominique, the senior vice president of Alfa Romeo North America. And he was kind enough to answer a good number of them, revealing some interesting information. One of the first things we wanted to know about was the decision to make such a pivotal car such a clear tribute to the famed Tipo 33 race car from many decades ago. We certainly weren't complaining, but we could easily have seen Alfa doing something more modern or more original. Dominique said that part of the reason was to help with awareness of Alfa and its history, as awareness in general is something the brand still struggles with. So connecting the car with famous motorsports machines could help people understand more of what Alfa is and was. Of course, the Tipo 33 was also a gorgeous car to start with, and as this is among the last gas-powered Alfas, a tribute makes sense. The 33 Stradale's specs also looked shockingly similar to that of the Maserati MC20 supercar, and considering the mid-engine layout, we were expecting that under the curvy exterior, the Alfa would basically be that Maserati. Dominique told us that's not quite the case. Parts of the frame are borrowed from the Maserati, but apparently the engine is a version of the twin-turbo V6 from the Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio models, not Maserati's Nettuno V6. Apparently some aspects of the active suspension are also taken from the Giulia Quadrifoglio GTA, though neither Dominique nor Alfa's PR representative present had the detailed specifics at the time of the interview. We also learned a few more details about the electric powertrain. The battery pack comes in around 100-kWh in capacity, and it has an 800-volt architecture to support high-speed charging from 350-kW chargers. Beyond that, though, Dominique didn't have anything else to talk about for the electric 33. The 33 Stradale will be fast with 60 mph times under 3 seconds, but it's fast in another way. Dominique told us that this project got under way toward the end of summer and beginning of fall just last year. With final development coming over the next several months, that's a quick turnaround to getting a production car. One thing Dominique wouldn't tell us is how expensive the 33 Stradale is.