1991 Alfa Romeo Spider Veloce 5-speed Manual on 2040-cars

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Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

Alfaholics built an Alfa Romeo 105 Series entirely out of carbon fiber

Alfaholics has restored numerous 105 Series cars before. And Alfaholics has used carbon fiber parts before. But this is the first time Alfaholics has built a 105 Series with a body made entirely out of carbon fiber. The United Kingdom-based builder and parts supplier debuted the carbon shell this month and will make it available as an option for future projects. It's called the GTA-R 300. Alfaholics is a all-encompassing Alfa Romeo 105 Series (also known as the Giulia) parts supplier, customization shop and restoration specialist run by Alfa enthusiasts Richard, Max and Andrew Banks. The company has become known for its GTA-R builds, which are part of its R-Type program that Alfaholics says is "reserved for our most exclusive restorations which represent the ultimate evolution of the Alfa Romeo 105 Series." Human hands spend more than 3,000 hours building GTA-R coupes (or Ti-R sedans or Spider-R convertibles), and everything can be customized to the client's demands.  Customers are presented with a massive book of options, including choices of engines, gear ratios, suspension packages, damper valving, power steering, seat styles, upholstery, interior lighting, roll cages, dashboard styles, car audio and infotainment, and much more. Up until this point, clients did have the option for carbon fiber parts, but the choices were limited to the hood, the doors, and the rear deck lid. Now buyers can opt for a full carbon fiber kit. The GTA-R 300 gets its name due to its power-to-weight ratio. It's about 84 pounds lighter than the previously range-topping GTA-R 290 and about 154 pounds lighter than a GTA-R constructed entirely out of steel. All said, Alfaholics says the GTA-R 300 has a power-to-weight number of 300 bhp per ton, but it did not provide a specific weight number for the car, as it is not yet completed. Alfaholics does say this build will also include many other lightweight parts such as the Alfaholics GTA-R Ultraleggera billet titanium suspension package. For more information on other current and completed builds, visit Alfaholics.           View this post on Instagram                   Alfaholics GTA-R 300 Carbon Full carbonfibre body conversion, 70kg weight saving over a steel GTA-R.

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.