2013 Fiat 500 Conv Abarth on 2040-cars

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Fiat: Ready For Action

Leave it to Fiat to employ a certain little blue pill in its 2015 Super Bowl advertising. The company employed a Viagra-like medication to highlight its all-new 500X soft-roader, a larger, all-wheel-drive variant of the cute-as-a-button 500 hatchback. It's not until the end of the ad that you realize just what the advertisement is for, but once you get to the car, you're sure to get a chuckle.

Fiat teases upcoming new 124 roadster

Enthusiasts have been waiting for some time for the debut of the Fiat 124. And we've had some pretty good glimpses at what to expect along the way. But now Fiat has dropped the first official teaser images to prepare us for the arrival of its upcoming new roadster. The model tipped to revive the number 124 represents Fiat's version of the program that has already given us the new Mazda MX-5 Miata. The Italian counterpart was originally slated to wear the Alfa Romeo badge, but concerns that customers wouldn't welcome an Alfa made in Japan led FCA to repurpose the program as a Fiat. That brand already produces its vehicles in locations around the world, including the 500 in Poland and Mexico, the 500L in Serbia, and the upcoming Tipo in Turkey. Another Fiat made in Japan, then, wouldn't be as much of a stretch as it would be for Alfa Romeo, which manufactures exclusively in Italy. As we were able to see from the most recent spy shots, the Fiat 124 will adopt similar (if not identical) proportions and layout to the MX-5, but with its own unique sheetmetal. And that, as you can see from these line drawings, will include a prominent belt line melding into a muscular rear haunch. Expect FCA's own engines to slot in under the hood, including the turbo four from the Fiat 500 Abarth and the more potent one from the Alfa Romeo 4C. Given Fiat's timing in releasing these teasers, we have a good feeling the 124 could debut at the LA Auto Show later this month. The SoCal auto expo always proves a good setting at which to unveil a new convertible – especially one as vital to a brand's US presence as the 124 will be for Fiat. So watch this space.

Ram and Fiat Professional announce plans for new trucks, vans starting in 2015

Ram Trucks CEO and President Reid Bigland got his turn among the executives elucidating the near-term futures for brands in the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles umbrella, laying out the plans for both Ram trucks and Fiat Professional. After Bigland said that the company "will continue to invest heavily in commercial vehicles" for the Italian arm, he didn't give many specifics as to where that investment would go. What we do know for now is that a new Fiat Doblo will come next year - that's the truck we've been catching spy shots of and that will be the basis for the Ram ProMaster City.
In 2016 will come the next-generation Fiorino, a small cargo van sold in markets outside the US as a Fiat, as the Citroën Nemo and Peugeot Bipper. The European and South American markets will also get a new midsize pickup that same year.
Bigland's goal for Ram Trucks and Ram commercial is just a touch more ambitious: "Build the best pickup trucks and commercial vehicles in the industry" and increase NAFTA-market sales from 463,000 in 2013 to 620,000 in 2018. The waypoints along that road include a refresh for the Ram 1500 in 2015 and then a brand new 1500 to come two years later in 2017. Bracketing that, a refresh for the Heavy Duty lineup happens in 2016, and two years later it will also get an all-new generation.