2008 Maserati Gran Turismo Base 2dr Coupe on 2040-cars

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Only best-performing US Fiat dealers to get Alfa Romeo franchises

Alfa Romeo has been rumored to return to the US market so many times for so many years, it's hard to keep count. This time, though, Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne promises that it's for real. Alfa is scheduled to reappear in the States this summer with its 4C sports coupe as its introductory model. However, buyers won't be able to pop into just any Fiat showroom and leave with a 4C – it's planning to only sell Alfas at its best-performing dealers, according to The Detroit News. In fact, the first 4Cs sold here won't be sold at Fiat dealers at all. Instead the first shipment of cars in June will go to Maserati dealers, not unlike the handful of Alfa 8C Competizione coupe and convertible models that trickled in starting in 2008. According to Fiat Chrysler spokesperson Rick Deneau, the company is still deciding which Fiat retailers will participate in Alfa's reentry. Many of Fiat's US dealers are apparently not happy with the meritocracy approach. They built Fiat showrooms partially on the promise that Alfa would enter the US market in 2012, then 2013, and now later this year. Even worse for them, the prospects for more mainstream Alfa Romeo models in the US are still questionable. This isn't the first time that we've heard that Fiat plans to keep Alfa Romeo exclusive in the US. Still, Fiat only plans to export about a 1,000 4C sports coupes a year here. If Alfa wants to be a legitimate player in America and be a money-making concern globally, it will need far more sales than that. Featured Gallery 2015 Alfa Romeo 4C: First Drive View 57 Photos News Source: The Detroit NewsImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Matt Davis / AOL Earnings/Financials Marketing/Advertising Alfa Romeo Fiat Maserati Coupe Performance Sergio Marchionne alfa romeo 4c fiat dealers

Marchionne says no offers are on the table for Fiat Chrysler

MONZA, Italy (Reuters) - Fiat Chrysler (FCA) has not received any offer for the company nor is the world's seventh-largest carmaker working on any "big deal", Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday. Speaking on the sidelines of the Italian Formula One Grand Prix, Marchionne said the focus remained on executing the company's business plan to 2018. Asked whether FCA had been approached by someone or whether there was an offer on the table, he simply said: "No." The company's share price jumped to record highs last month after reports of interest for the group or some of its brands from China. China's Great Wall Motor Co Ltd openly said it was interested in FCA, but had not held talks or signed a deal with executives at the Italian-American automaker. The stock move was also helped by expectations that the company might separate from some of its units. Marchionne reiterated on Saturday that FCA was working on a plan to "purify" its portfolio and that units, such as the components businesses, would be separated from the group. He hopes to complete that process by the end of 2018. "There are activities within the group that do not belong to a car manufacturer, for example the components businesses. The group needs to be cleared of those things," he told journalists. Asked whether an announcement could come this year, Marchionne said it was up to the board to decide and that it would next meet at the end of September. He said the time was not right for a spin-off of luxury brand Maserati and premium Alfa Romeo and the two brands needed to become self-sustainable entities first and "have the muscle to stand on their feet, make sufficient cash". "The way we see it now, it's almost impossible, if not impossible, to see a spin-off of Alfa Romeo/Maserati, these are two entities that are immature and in a development phase," he said. "It's the wrong moment, we are not in a condition to do it." He said the concept of separating the two brands from FCA's mass market business made sense and did not rule out this happening in future, but not under his tenure, which lasts until April 2019. "If there is an opportunity in future, it would certainly happen after I'm gone. It won't happen while Marchionne is around," he said.

One-off Maserati GranTurismo models celebrate the brand's past and future

The new Maserati GranTurismo is headed to the 2023 Milan Design Week to show off some of the different outfits it can wear. The Italian company's Fuoriserie department, which handles one- and few-off requests from customers, prepared a pair of one-of-a-kind coupes. Maserati calls the Design Week-bound models GranTurismo One Off Prisma and GranTurismo One Off Luce, respectively. "Prisma" means "Prism" in Italian (coincidentally, the name also appeared on a three-box version of the original Lancia Delta) while "luce" translates to "light" (as in, what the sun emits, not how you'd describe a Mazda MX-5 Miata). Both will be difficult to miss if you're walking around the show floor. Designed as a celebration of Maserati's past, present, and future, the Prisma is painted in no less than 14 different colors. Two of those colors look to the future, according to the carmaker, while the remaining 12 are colors that were offered on the GranTurismo's predecessors. Amaranto — a purple-ish color — was available on the 1947 A6 1500, and Oro Longchamps was offered on the 1973 Khamsin. Once the colors were applied to the body, over 8,500 letters that spell the name of historic Maserati models were applied by hand to create a second layer. At the other end of the spectrum, the Luce (shown above) represents Maserati's future. It's not as colorful as the Prisma but it's equally eye-catching: it features a mirror-like finish, a laser-etched pattern, and a color that the company describes as being "almost absent." We're told that this treatment makes the contours of the car blend into their surroundings, though so far we've only seen a sketch of the car — it likely looks quite a bit different when you're standing in front of it. Maserati used a recycled type of nylon called EcoNyl throughout the interior. Maserati hasn't announced what the future holds for the two design studies. They might join the company's collection, or they could end up in a lucky collector's garage. As for the regular-production model, it's scheduled to reach showrooms across the nation this month with a twin-turbocharged, 3.0-liter V6 and a base price set at about $174,000. The next-generation GranCabrio convertible isn't far behind. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.