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Fiat version of Mazda MX-5 Miata to be called 124 Spider

Fiat has a definite use for its recent US trademark on the 124 Spider name, and it's something that should make many performance fans quite happy. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed to Auto Express that the Italian brand's future roadster would bear the classic name. Auto Express reportedly asked Marchionne directly about the convertible at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show. The CEO said: "Do we want to do it now?" After another executive verified the name, Marchionne responded: "There you go – a world class premiere right in this room!" Autoblog reached out to Fiat Brand communications boss in the US Ariel Gavilan for more information, and he verified the story. Gavilan said that brand head Olivier Francois confirmed the 124 Spider name to international media during a briefing in Geneva. FCA isn't going quite so far as officially confirming that the 124 Spider shares a platform with the latest Mazda MX-5 Miata, but that's almost a certainty. The two automakers jointly developed the chassis, and the original plan was for it to underpin an Alfa Romeo. However, Marchionne didn't want an Alfa assembled outside of Italy. Fiat even hinted at this possible change as far back as the corporation's five-year plan last summer. Insiders tell Auto Express that the 124 Spider reportedly carries retro-inspired style, and hopefully, that means the roadster evokes the look of the original 124 Sport Spider (pictured above) by Pininfarina. Fiat allegedly is also aiming for a weight less than 2,205 pounds, and the engine range is likely comprised of versions of the brand's 1.4-liter turbo. The mill already pumps out 160 horsepower and 183 pound-feet of torque in the Fiat 500 Abarth in the US. According to Auto Express, Fiat and Mazda have an agreement to launch the Miata in 2015 and the 124 Spider in 2016. A hotter Abarth version could come along eventually, too. Related Video:

Mazda's new Mexican plant capacity rises to 230,000

After the turmoil of last year, 2013 is getting off to a much better start for Mazda. The company has issued a release indicating that the forthcoming plant in Salamanca, Mexico has had its production capacity raised even though it isn't scheduled to go online until March 2014. The original plans called for a 140,000-unit capacity, 90,000 of that allotted for the Mazda2 and Mazda3, the remaining 50,000 for a small car Mazda would build for Toyota that would be based on the Mazda2. The new plans call for raising that by 90,000 units to a total of 230,000 units within two years, by the end of March 2016, and it looks like it will all go toward Mazda production to satisfy growing demand for Skyactiv vehciles. The Mexican plant's opening will be the return of Mazda manufacturing to North America, after Mazda6 production was moved back to Japan last year.
More good news for the company is that it projects 10 billion yen ($114 million) in net income for the financial year that will end in March. That would be a welcome turnaround from the 100-billion-yen loss in the previous financial year, part of a series of three annual losses in a four-year span.
You'll find the press release with the factory update below.

Alfa Romeo takes Spider in-house, Mazda-Fiat roadster partnership not dead

It's officially off. Following a report in March of this year that the marriage of Mazda and Alfa Romeo to produce a MX-5-based Spider was in trouble, the Italians have confirmed that it will take development in-house. "As far as the Spider goes, the final version is of course no longer the two-seater FCA co-developed with Mazda but a derivative of Project Giorgio," Maserati and Alfa Romeo brand boss Harald Wester told Car. For those not in the know, Project Giorgio is Alfa's codename for the rear-drive platform that will underpin the next-generation Spider, not to mention the replacement for the 159 sedan and a few other products. All is not lost for the Japanese-Italian partnership, though. "The Far East import will probably find a new home with Fiat-Abarth," Wester told Car. Yes, you read that correctly, Mazda is still working with FCA, and the result will eventually end up with Abarth's scorpion badge. If anything, we're more excited over this news than the idea of an Alfa MX-5. But we want to know what you think – would you rather Alfa build a new Spider on the Miata's bones, or does an MX-5 Abarth sound like more fun? Have your say in Comments.