10 Granturismo-34k-luxury Pkg-sunroof-cold Weather Pkg-navigation-sport Pkg on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Share price falls on skepticism of Chrysler-Fiat five-year plan

Following this week's Fiat Chrysler extravaganza, where the Italian-American manufacturer announced its plans for the next five years, the Autoblog staff was cautiously optimistic of the company's future. Investors? Not so much.
Fiat saw its shares tumble 12 percent in Wednesday's trading, falling from 8.67 euros ($12.06 at today's rates) to 7.44 euros ($10.35) as of this writing, with blame partly going to the Italian half of the FCA marriage, which recorded a pretty significant drop in profits during the first quarter of this year.
The plan, which will cost around $77 billion over the next several years, is facing criticism from investors thanks in part to a 1.4-percent drop in Fiat's first-quarter profits, to 622 million euros ($862 million). That figure is also short of Bloomberg analysts' projections, which predicted $1.18 billion in profits before taxes, interest and one-time items.

Maserati confirms mystery concept, Zegna edition QP for Geneva

Debate ensued last week around the Autoblog offices when we first heard rumors that Maserati was bringing a new sports car concept to the Geneva Motor Show this year. Could there be any truth to the rumors? Did the timing make any sense? Does Maserati even need a two-door halo car to help it move examples of the new Ghibli, Quattroporte and upcoming Levante?
Well, we still don't have any official answer, but Maserati has indeed confirmed a new concept car to debut this week at the Swiss expo. The Modenese automaker hasn't indicated what form the concept will take, but assuming it's not doing another sedan or crossover, and unless it's planning a wagon concept like Touring's Bellagio Fastback or StudioTorino's Cinqueporte (both based on the previous Quattroporte), we feel it's more likely than not that we'll be looking at a two-door (be it a coupe, convertible or something in between).
Of course, we also don't know at this point just what size and segment Maserati is pursuing with this concept car (initial rumors had it going after the Jaguar F-Type) or for that matter whether it will presage a production version to follow or simply stand as a design study. But Maserati doesn't typically do many of the latter: the Kubang concepts of 2011 and 2003 previewed the Levante (albeit several years in advance), and the Birdcage was really more of a Pininfarina project, despite the Trident on the nose. With the exception of a couple production-based show cars (which themselves previewed production versions to follow), those are pretty much the only concepts Maserati has done in recent memory.

Submit your questions for Autoblog Podcast #329 LIVE!

We're set to record Autoblog Podcast #329 tonight, and you can drop us your questions and comments via our Q&A module below. Subscribe to the Autoblog Podcast in iTunes if you haven't already done so, and if you want to take it all in live, tune in to our UStream (audio only) channel at 10:00 PM Eastern tonight.
Discussion Topics for Autoblog Podcast Episode #329
Subcompact sales slump, yet again