2024 Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Rwd on 2040-cars

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Alfa Romeo boss targeting Lexus reliability, cheaper future models

J.D. Power's U.S. Initial Quality Study measures an aggregate number of problems suffered by light-duty vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership. In the 2021 survey, the industry average was 162 per 100 vehicles over that first 90 days. Ram topped the charts with the best result, posting 128 problems per 100 vehicles in 90 days. Lexus ranked third, at 144. Out of the top 33 brands measured verifiably according to the methodology — Tesla came with an asterisk — Alfa Romeo finished 29th. In Consumer Reports' 2020 Brand Report Card, Lexus placed fifth out of 32 brands, Alfa Romeo 28th. The Italian carmaker's CEO, Jean-Philippe Imparato, wants to get his brand closer to that Japanese brand. During the first European test drive of the new Tonale crossover, he told Automotive News, "My quality benchmark is Lexus." There's a long way to go, but Imperato believes he knows the route. Doing the same quick work in Italy that Carlos Tavares did with Opel, Imparato — who led Peugeot to being the second-best-selling marque in Europe — has turned Alfa Romeo to profit before the release of the Tonale. He's only been on the job 16 months.  There are customer-facing approaches to improving confidence in the brand. The Tonale sits on the oldest platform in the Stellantis parts bin, the CUSW architecture that rolled out with the Giulietta in 2010, so it stands a better chance of having all of its bugs flushed out by now. The blockchain-enabled telematics recorder keeps what is intended to be a tamper-proof record of the vehicle's use and maintenance, preventing skullduggery about accidents and mileage and sketchy service. Alfa has enough faith in it to offer what's said to be a five-year, 75,000-mile unconditional warranty on the Tonale in Europe. We won't know how the nitty gritty bits hold up until Tonales hit the road, but the goals are admirable.        The reliability push is just one more step in Imparato's re-establishing the market segments, perception, and touchpoints of the Alfa Romeo brand. He told Wheels at the same event, "before we reach for the stars, we must get the basics in order," beginning with "the quality issues," then improving resale values, and then launching more affordable models. The Giulia sedan and Stelvio crossover have been dominated by the Germans they're meant to challenge, and "they are too pricey for Alfisti who would like to trade up from a Giulietta, let alone the MiTo" European subcompact.

Alfa Romeo teases 6C supercar taillight

Alfa Romeo's latest reboot takes its next steps this year with the arrival of the refreshed Giulia and Stelvio to the U.S. market, and the debut of the new Tonale. The Italians primed the pump with an Instagram video celebrating 2022 and asking if we're ready for 2023. At the end of the vid, Alfa Romeo answers its own question with, "We Are." And as it's clear to see, the first "e" is a brand new font we've not seen Alfa use before. Everyone expects this is a taillight from the supercar that brand chief Jean-Philippe Imperato starting hinting about last year, intel coalescing around the name 6C. If that ends up being the name, the new supercar would complete the trilogy of 2007's 8C and 2015's 4C.           View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Alfa Romeo (@alfaromeoofficial) If Evo can be believed, the 6C will borrow much of its tech spec from the Maserati MC20. Even more unexpected, Evo says Alfa Romeo will advertise the halo as a bridge between its internal combustion era and its electric era, so the supercar will be offered with ICE and EV powertrains. An electric MC20 is on the way, so the plan won't be a tough jump. The most unexpected bit is when Evo says the Alfa Romeo supercar will use Maserati's in-house Nettuno V6 designed for the MC20, whereas most believe Alfa plans to go with the 2.9-liter V6 used throughout its lineup and in other halos like the Giula GTA/Am. If Evo is correct, this is sounding like another 8C, that car based on the Maserati GranTurismo and using Maserati's Ferrari-based engine of the time.  It's a bit of a challenge to reconcile Evo's report with some aspects of what Imperato said in an interview with Autocar. The honcho told Autocar, "It’s 1969 [the Spider] since the last time Alfa Romeo was stamped on a chassis" and it would be "a cool thing" to see again under his watch. We don't envision that happening to the Dallara carbon fiber monocoque chassis designed for the MC20. Imperato also said the automaker's still fine tuning the business case and that "the positioning is ongoing." If Alfa Romeo were nabbing the $260,000 MC20 practically wholesale, the only positions are super spendy supercar and wildly spendy supercar. Lastly, the all-electric MC20 Folgore isn't expected until 2024, the Alfa supercar at the end of 2023.

Fiat Chrysler's Q3 profit boosted by strong North American earnings

MILAN, Italy — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported a 17 percent jump in third-quarter adjusted operating profit on Tuesday, helped by a strong performance in its key North American market and improving operations in Europe and Latin America. The world's seventh-largest carmaker still makes the lion's share of its profits in North America, so improving, or at least maintaining, its margins there is a key focus. The carmaker reported an 8 percent adjusted operating profit margin in the region, up from 7.6 percent a year ago, despite a drop in sales and shipments. "FCA's profitability in North America remained strong in the quarter despite a weakening market there," a Milan-based analyst said. FCA's profitability compares with an 8.3 percent North America margin reached in the quarter by bigger U.S. rival GM , showing CEO Sergio Marchionne making progress towards his goal of closing the margin gap with GM and the company's other U.S. rival, Ford, by 2018. The company's confirmation of its full-year outlook also pushed shares higher, a trader added. The stock was up 2.8 percent by 1129 GMT, outperforming a 1 percent rise in the European auto index. FCA has been retooling some U.S. factories to boost output of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and trucks while ending production of some unprofitable sedans to strengthen profitability as the U.S. car market comes off its peak. The company said a drop in North America shipments due to lower fleet sales and discontinued models was partially offset by higher deliveries of Ram trucks and two models from the Alfa Romeo stable: the Stelvio sport utility vehicle and Giulia sedan. Profitability also improved in Europe, helped by sales of the Stelvio and the new Jeep Compass, and Latin America, while margins at Maserati remained strong at 13.8 percent due to strong demand for its first SUV, the Levante. In a later conference call, investors are looking for hints on the new strategy to 2022 which the company promised to unveil early next year. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said earlier this year that FCA would streamline its portfolio and that components businesses, including Magneti Marelli, would be separated from the group, possibly via a spin-off. While FCA confirmed its targets this year, doubts remain about its exposure to a weakening U.S. market, recall costs and potential fines over emissions after it was targeted by European and U.S.