1988 Alfa Romeo Spider (graduate) on 2040-cars

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Watch Alfa's 4C storm up Goodwood's hillclimb course quicker than a Corvette

Alfa Romeo's gorgeous 4C remains a car that we in the United States are forced to admire from afar. Thankfully, our petrolheaded brethren in the UK and Europe seem all too happy to flaunt the 4C at most every opportunity. Take this video of the team at Goodwood, running the mid-engined Alfa up the estate's historic hill. Watching the 4C run the course while belting out its adorably angry engine note is plenty entertaining on its own. Of course, it gets better when the Goodwood folks lay down some serious rubber following the car's 61.1-second lap. That number bests the wet time of the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, by the way. Have a look below for the full video from the team at Goodwood.

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.

Alfa Romeo Giulia is the sexiest starlet in LA

Generally, there's a fair amount of debate about what the best-looking car at any given auto show may be. We, however, humbly submit that for the 2015 LA Auto Show, there's no point in arguing – it's the Alfa Romeo Giulia. Here on US soil for the first time, the troubled Italian brand unveiled the stunning sedan that will herald Alfa Romeo's long-awaited return to the North American market. The handsome red four-door is more or less what we've seen before. That means a thundering 2.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V6 that develops 505 horsepower and 443 pound-feet of torque. No matter where you're from, that qualifies as "a lot." But unlike the Alfa we saw in Milan, there's more to talk about than the top-flight Quadrifoglio model. Alfa let slip that following the fire-breather's arrival, the sedan would also get a more modest 2.0-liter turbo, capable of producing 276 horsepower. Following that, all-wheel drive will join the options list alongside standard rear-wheel drive. We've got a fresh batch of live images of the stylish Italian. Have a look, and then scroll down for a refresher on Alfa's original press release. Related Video: Created With the 'Mechanics of Emotion,' the All-new 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Delivers Italian Style With Benchmark-level Performance and Precision to the Premium Mid-size Sedan Segment - Built in Italy, the Giulia Quadrifoglio Delivers Class-leading 505 Horsepower, 0-60 in 3.8 Seconds and a Record-setting 7:39 Nurburgring Lap Time – the Fastest Ever by a Four-door Production Sedan - Alfa Romeo – the heart and soul of the automotive industry – is returning to the U.S.