2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Veloce on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio trims leaving North America this summer

Larry Dominique, Alfa Romeo senior vice president and head of North America, used a LinkedIn post to set the countdown clock on the brand's Quadrifolgio models here. He wrote, "The opportunity to order a 2024 Giulia Quadrifoglio or Stelvio Quadrifoglio will close to North America at the end of April 2024. The last internal only combustion powered Quadrifoglio models for U.S. and Canada will exit the Cassino plant in June 2024." That gives shoppers about 10 weeks to place an order for the hottest versions of Alfa Romeo's sedan and midsize SUV, and until late summer to find a fresh example on a dealer lot. It's possible the internal-combustion-only Quadrifoglio is dying in the U.S. on its 101st birthday, Italian racing driver Ugo Sivocci having had the four-leaf clover painted on his car for the 1923 Targa Florio. Today, the clover represents models powered by Alfa's twin-turbocharged 2.9-liter V6, an engine said to be inspired by Ferrari's twin-turbo 3.9-liter V6. The six-cylinder makes 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque in typical form, the limited-edition Quadrifoglio Anniversario models produced last year making 520 horsepower and picking up the mechanical limited-slip differential derived from the sold-out, 540-horsepower Giulia GTA. This is just another step in the automaker's transfer to an all-electric lineup, all of the brand's launches from 2027 and thereafter meant to be electric. This isn't the end of the Quadrifoglio, Dominique himself writing in that post, "I look forward to presenting the next chapter in the four-leaf clover’s journey." Successive iterations will get some sort of electric assistance at the least, and perhaps turn into the 1,000-hp battery-electric 2026 Giulia Quadrifoglio that CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato hinted at last year, with an 800-horsepower Veloce trim below and a 350-hp base trim. Or, with PHEVs coming into fashion as a more affordable middle ground to the fully electric promised land, it might be time to take a little more inspiration from Ferrari — now a separate company — and poke around the underside of the SF90 Stradale. Alfa noises and pure electric driving on demand? Si, certamento.          

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us

Maserati Grecale and Alfa Romeo Tonale delayed

MILAN — Maserati on Monday delayed the launch of its new Grecale SUV until the spring of 2022 from November this year due to a global chip shortage. The announcement by the luxury brand, part of Stellantis, comes as a shortage of semiconductors forces automakers around the world to slow or suspend production. Maserati said its decision stemmed from ongoing disruptions in the supply of parts. "In particular, due to a scarcity of semiconductors, production volumes would not adequately meet expected global demand," Maserati said in a statement. A global premiere for the Grecale, which will be produced in Cassino in central Italy, was initially scheduled for Nov. 16. Stellantis this month also confirmed it would present the Tonale, the new Alfa Romeo SUV, next March after it had been expected at the end of this year. Stellantis, formed this year though the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, has halted production at several plants, including in Europe and Canada, due to the chip shortage. It has forecast it will produce 1.4 million fewer vehicles this year. The FIM-CISL union has said the impact of a semiconductor shortage on Stellantis' Italian production this year will be worse and longer-lasting than the damage to output caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Related video: