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Maserati confirms Levante SUV for 2015, Alfieri for 2016

The Maserati share of the big Fiat Chrysler event today was expected to be something of a snooze, at least relative to the very busy Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Alfa Romeo portions. But the truth is there was plenty to pay attention to where the premium Italian brand was concerned. After all, moving from its 15,400 unit sales in 2013 to a target of 75,000 global sales in 2018 is going to take some doing.
One piece of big news is a shakeup in the existing ranks. 2014 will mark the final year of production for the GranTurismo (and its soft-top counterpart), meaning Maserati will be limited to just its Quattroporte and Ghibli sedans until the Levante SUV arrives in 2015, confirming previous reports. The first SUV to wear the trident, the Levante will only be available with all-wheel drive, but it will boast a Porsche Macan-smiting pair of V6s, with 350 and 425 horsepower, respectively.
Things get back to normal in 2016, as Maserati resumes sports car production with a road-going version of the Alfieri Concept from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. Again, this is confirmation of a previous report. That car will be joined by a convertible variant in 2017. It seems like Maser is taking aim at, well, everything with the Alfieri, offering a 410-hp, V6-powered variant that dispatches its power to the rear wheels, to go along with 450- and 520-hp versions of the Alfieri's V6 that will only get their power to the road through an all-wheel-drive system.

Order a real color, Fiat says — it's eliminating gray paint

For Fiat aficionados around the world, it’s the dawn of a new dolce vita: The Italians will no longer build gray-colored cars.  ItÂ’s a rather bold move, but one you may expect from “the brand of joy, colors and optimism,” declared Olivier Francois, Fiat chief executive officer and global chief marketing officer at Stellantis.“We broke the rules: We decided to stop the production of Fiat gray cars ... Fiat wants to inspire people to live with optimism and positivity, and this will also be one of the missions of the new Fiat 600e, the electric for families and friends." The first Fiat model to delete gray from its palette is the new 600e electric, which is about to debut.   But there remains a colorful antipasto of choices, inspired by “the New Dolce Vita values and the Italian DNA embodied by the Brand.” The current Fiat range — New 500, 500 Hybrid, 500X, Panda and Tipo — will be rendered in Gelato white, Sicilia orange, Paprika orange, Passione red, Blu Dipinto di Blu, Italia blue, Venezia blue, Rugiada green, Foresta green, Rose gold and Cinema black. “All with an evocative name that reminds of Italian beautiful landscapes and dolce vita mood,” says Francois.  Gray has historically been a popular shade — Fiat says it's the most popular color for new cars in the UK. It represents more than one in four new cars sold in the UK in 2022, the company says. In the U.S., it's nearly one in every five cars, and automakers have rolled out a new generation of grays that are attempting to be more interesting. 

Fiat eyes droptop SUV market with 500X convertible

Fiat will add a convertible version of the 500X crossover, Automotive News Europe has confirmed. The droptop variant will retain the side structure of the hardtop version, including the doors and door frames, and will utilize a roll-bar canvas top that incorporates the rear window, similar to the design of the 500 Cabrio. The open-air crossover is due to begin production this year. There's no word from FCA's U.S. arm on whether the model will come to the United States. Fiat's U.S. dealers might very well want it, given that they just lost the 124 Spider and the 500L hatchback for 2021. This despite the unenviable sales track record for crossover convertibles. Outside of hardcore off-roaders like the Jeep Wrangler (and, by all appearances, the new Ford Bronco), the notion of a convertible SUV has proven to be a sales flop. The odd-duck Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet, which at least made more of an effort with its two-door body and full soft top, was nonetheless an embarrassing failure that expired with the second-generation Murano in 2014. Land Rover's first-generation Range Rover Evoque already had a two-door body style when it, too, took a stab at the idea with the Evoque Convertible for 2017. The Evoque was already something of a high-end fashion statement, so maybe the beautiful people who summer in the Hamptons or the south of France would want to bop around town in a baby SUV that allowed them to show off their fabulous selves. Turns out, no. The Evoque convertible pointedly was left on the shelf (along with the two-door hardtop) when the model was redesigned for 2020. Maybe things will be different for Fiat. In Europe, the 500X convertible will go up against the only other vehicle of its type, Volkswagen's T-Roc Cabriolet. At the launch of that VW in late 2019, Volkswagen's board member in charge of marketing asserted that the idea of combining a convertible and a crossover was "a great opportunity," and yet he also said, "From a rational side, you would never go into the cabriolet market.” For Fiat — as well as for Volkswagen — it's likely that one of those sentiments will prove correct.