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Autoblog Podcast #317

Mitsubishi Mirage, Toyota thinks of beefing up US production, Marchionne on Alfa, Dart and minivans, Ford Atlas concept, Honda Gear concept
Episode #317 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Jeff Ross and Michael Harley bookend the other podcast topics with a pair from the Montreal Auto Show, the Mitsubishi Mirage and Honda Gear concept, and in between we talk about Toyota building all its US-market cars stateside, Hyundai building a Nurburgring test facility, Sergio Marchionne's latest words about Alfa Romeo, Dodge Dart powertrains and the future of Chrysler vans. Some chatter about the Ford Atlas concept finishes up the meat of the 'cast and then we wrap with your questions. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #317:

CEO says Volkswagen's buying spree is over

After adding Italian motorcycle icon Ducati to its stable and spending $5.6 billion on the rest of Porsche, Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn says he's done shopping for a while.
"We have enough to do at the moment in taking our twelve brands to where we want to be," Winterkorn tells German newspaper Handelsblatt.

The 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia's infotainment system is new, but is it better?

When Alfa Romeo introduced the Giulia in 2017, it was praised for its its on-road manners, its gorgeous styling and its performance credentials. It was criticized for, well, just about everything else, including a clunky, low-resolution and feature-light infotainment system. Enthusiasts can forgive many of a car's flaws so long as the driving experience is stellar, and for that reason, the Giulia quickly became a darling. But Alfa can't depend on enthusiasts alone to buy its cars; they need to be seen as legitimate players in the luxury market, and to do that, they need interior tech and materials to match their price points.  For 2020, Alfa Romeo addressed the Giulia's shortcomings. The infotainment system was overhauled, with a new 8.8-inch touchscreen headlining a host of additional features. The Giulia now has acoustic glass for a quieter, more luxurious cabin, and some much-needed material improvements on the steering wheel, dash and center console. There's also a new USB Type-C outlet, a wireless device charging option and some other behind-the-scenes features, like a wireless hot spot and over-the-air firmware update capabilities.  The Giulia's original infotainment system was criticized for its low-res screen with no touch interface, a lack of quick access buttons for key features, and a lack of depth when it came to integrated tech. On paper, Alfa has addressed all of these shortcomings, but I wanted to see how it performs in the real world. To do this, I set aside some time with the 2020 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio to dedicate solely to exploring its new tech features. What I found was a bit of a mixed bag.  Let's start with the interface itself. The 8.8-inch screen used to be an upgrade, but the extra real estate is now standard and, as we mentioned up top, it's now a touchscreen. Both the resolution and the quality of individual page graphics have been significantly improved compared to the old software. Alfa says the underlying hardware was improved to support the improved visual experience.  Improved, perhaps, but not perfected. The interface still lags inputs (especially touch) and lacks a crisp, responsive feel. Even after the system has fully loaded, there's a visible delay between finger gestures and responses from the interface.