1974 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce Convertible 2-door 2.0l on 2040-cars

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FCA is setting a five-year strategy: Here's how the last one played out

We're slightly more than four years removed from Sergio Marchionne last five-year plan for FCA, a tell-all where the Italian-American automaker divulged its plans for the 2014 through 2018 model years. It was a grand affair, where Sergio told FCA investors that all was right in Auburn Hills, Alfa Romeo and Maserati were making comebacks, and the fifth-gen Dodge Viper received a mid-cycle refresh. You can read every last one of those past predictions right here. We're on our way to Europe to see Sergio's sequel, coming out Friday straight from FCA's Italian headquarters. (Bloomberg reports a plan to expand Jeep and Ram globally, combine Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a single division for an eventual spinoff, and downsizing Fiat and Chrysler. Also, EVs.) But before we arrive in Italy and find out exactly what Marchionne has planned for 2019 through 2023 as his last act as CEO, let's take a minute to tally up the results of his last term based on the same scoresheet we used in 2014. Now, we're only five months into 2018, so much of this — including vehicles like the Ram HD and Jeep Grand Wagoneer — could still debut this year. For those, we'll mark things TBD. We're not going to draw any conclusions or make any objectionable remarks. We're simply going to let the stats speak for themselves.

Alfa Romeo's midsize sedan due in June, and we'll get it

As the calendar shifts, so do Alfa Romeo's plans. At the LA Auto Show, Harald Wester, head of Alfa Romeo, said the brand would unveil its second US model – after the 4C – next June, but he wouldn't identify the type of car. A report in Automotive News Europe, quoting sources, says that it will be a midsize sedan in the mold of the erstwhile 159 (pictured) that was supposed to become the Giulia but now has a new brief and perhaps a new name. "Giulia" should be familiar because we've been hearing about it for more than three years – in fact it was 2011 when it was thrown back on the drawing board for a complete redesign. Last year the plan – or the anonymously-sourced bits of the plan that we kept getting – were for the platform to go rear-wheel drive and do duty for both a BMW 3 Series and 5 Series competitor. ANE's latest intel is that the coming midsize sedan will be come in between the 3 Series and 5 Series – a strategy used by the original Cadillac CTS – slotting in beneath a "flagship sedan" that would fit between the 5 Series and 7 Series. That would appear to contradict a direct challenge to the entry-level segment's standard-bearer, and perhaps the M3, too. Those two Alfa sedans would be part of an eight-model onslaught happening over the next four years, which is a new matrix compared to April of this year when that was reported to be six models over the next five years. ANE says work has started on three of them, a midsize SUV said to be the third. The push is to get Alfa to 400,000 annual sales – 100,000 more than the April target – with the US accounting for 150,000 of that. News Source: Automotive News Europe - sub. req. Alfa Romeo Sedan alfa romeo giulia giulia

Alfa Romeo C43 is ready for the 2023 Formula One season

Following rival Red Bull's lead, Alfa Romeo has become the second team to unveil the car it will race in the 2023 season of Formula One. (Haas has revealed its livery, but so far not the new season's car.) Called C43, the single-seater Alfa stands out from its predecessor with a new aerodynamic profile and a redesigned livery, among other changes. The C43's red and black livery is the work of the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile, which is the same design center that draws the storied Italian company's road cars. Alfa Romeo describes the C43 as an evolution of the C42, its predecessor, and it notes that a technical team led by Jan Monchaux developed it around a new, Ferrari-sourced power unit. It features several updates and numerous new parts, though full details haven't been released, and Alfa Romeo hopes the changes made to the C43 will allow its team to improve during the 2023 season. "This car is an evolution of last year's, reflecting the new regulations and introducing major changes in the areas where we found improvements to be needed. I hope it's going to be quicker than the successful car we had last year, that's what matters most, and more reliable as well: We have put a lot of effort in this direction," said Monchaux, the technical director of Alfa Romeo's Formula One team. Alfa Romeo will begin testing the C43 in Barcelona, Spain, in February, and it will then send the car to Bahrain for more testing ahead of the 2023 F1 season's first race. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu will drive for Alfa Romeo during the upcoming season. And while the odds of non-professional drivers taking the C43 for a spin are low, anyone with or without a license will be able to drive it in the F1 2022 video game.