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2017 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth | Drivers Notes

We spent the week with a Grigio Argento Aluminum 2017 Fiat 124 Spider Abarth, known to many simply as the Fiata. As you may know, the 124 Spider is heavily based on the current ND Mazda Miata. In fact, both cars are built side-by-side in Hiroshima, Japan. The Miata has been a staff favorite for years, so we were interested to see how Fiat would handle the changes. While there are a lot of shared components between the two models like styling and suspension tuning, the biggest changes are under the hood. Fiat swapped the Miata's 2.0-liter naturally aspirated inline-four for a 1.4-liter turbocharged inline-four. In Abarth trim, the 124 Spider makes 164 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque, slightly more than the Miata (though that's offset by a bit of extra weight). Associate Editor Reese Counts: I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about this car. The current Miata is nearly flawless when it comes to driving dynamics, so I was afraid Fiat's alterations would undermine what is a fundamentally good vehicle. My fears were almost immediately put to rest. While I'm still not sure I would buy one over a Miata, I can totally recommend it to less performance-minded friends. The suspension is less firm and provides less body roll than the Miata, the latter one of my chief complaints about the Mazda. The transmission isn't as slick as the newer one in the Miata, but the turbo engine it's mated to provides plenty of character. The extra torque provides plenty of kick off the line thanks to minimal turbo lag. On paper, it's really no quicker, but around town it feels like it has a bit more grunt. In a canyon or on a track, I think I would still prefer the Miata. The 124 Spider's looks have grown on me a lot since the reveal in 2015. Honestly, I really didn't like it at first, maybe because I was so in love with the Miata's design. Taken on its own, the 124 Spider really is a pretty thing, with plenty of touches that harken back to the old model. Most important for me, they fixed the terrible, terrible seats in the Miata with new padding and covers. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Senior Producer Eddie Sabatini: I took the 124 Abarth Spider home two days this week, and it was two days of fun. Do I like the Miata better? Yes. For my money, the MX-5 drives better, looks better, and feels better but it's not the runaway contest I thought it would be before I got behind the wheel of the 124.

Only best-performing US Fiat dealers to get Alfa Romeo franchises

Alfa Romeo has been rumored to return to the US market so many times for so many years, it's hard to keep count. This time, though, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne promises that it's for real. Alfa is scheduled to reappear in the States this summer with its 4C sports coupe as its introductory model. However, buyers won't be able to pop into just any Fiat showroom and leave with a 4C – it's planning to only sell Alfas at its best-performing dealers, according to The Detroit News. In fact, the first 4Cs sold here won't be sold at Fiat dealers at all. Instead the first shipment of cars in June will go to Maserati dealers, not unlike the handful of Alfa 8C Competizione coupe and convertible models that trickled in starting in 2008. According to Fiat Chrysler spokesperson Rick Deneau, the company is still deciding which Fiat retailers will participate in Alfa's reentry. Many of Fiat's US dealers are apparently not happy with the meritocracy approach. They built Fiat showrooms partially on the promise that Alfa would enter the US market in 2012, then 2013, and now later this year. Even worse for them, the prospects for more mainstream Alfa Romeo models in the US are still questionable. This isn't the first time that we've heard that Fiat plans to keep Alfa Romeo exclusive in the US. Still, Fiat only plans to export about a 1,000 4C sports coupes a year here. If Alfa wants to be a legitimate player in America and be a money-making concern globally, it will need far more sales than that. Featured Gallery 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C: First Drive View 57 Photos News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL Earnings/Financials Marketing/Advertising Alfa Romeo Fiat Maserati Coupe Performance Sergio Marchionne alfa romeo 4c fiat dealers

Fiat Chrysler CEO Marchionne's health crisis forced succession scramble

Former Fiat Chrysler Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne for more than a year assured investors that he and the automaker's board were working on an orderly succession plan ahead of his expected departure in 2019. But a health crisis that left 66-year-old Marchionne incapacitated in a Swiss hospital set off a transition last week that was sudden and rushed, banking and industry sources said. The company announced on Wednesday that Marchionne had died, succumbing to complications from surgery. It emerged that Marchionne's successor was far from settled. Indeed before last week's crisis, many company executives remained in the dark, four banking sources who spoke to Fiat Chrysler executives told Reuters. The scramble to replace Marchionne led to the resignation of a senior executive who was passed over for the top job, the sources said, and exposed fissures between the Italian and North American sides of the world's seventh-largest automaker. Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann named Michael Manley, head of the company's Jeep and Ram truck divisions, to replace Marchionne at an emergency meeting in Turin, Italy on Saturday. In doing so, Elkann followed Marchionne's wishes to appoint Manley his successor, two sources said. The company has portrayed Manley's appointment as the product of lengthy deliberation. "Sergio and John have always been totally aligned on the choice of Mike Manley," Fiat Chrysler's main spokesman Mike Keegan said on Tuesday, when asked whether there were differences over the succession. Elkann's office declined to comment. Manley could not immediately be reached for comment. This description diverges from what Marchionne himself told investors on June 1 during a day-long strategy presentation in Balocco, Italy. Marchionne said that he and Elkann "from time to time have these chats" about succession, but the issue would not be decided until next year. "It's a 2019 issue," Marchionne said. "So it's not going to happen until we close '18. It just won't happen." He went on to say that the company's board would not engage in a "rubber stamp process." Some analysts have also expressed skepticism that a final decision had been made. "My view is Marchionne and Elkann were still arguing about succession and had different views on the right candidate," Sanford Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said in a note on Monday, referring to the June 1 presentation.