2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale Ti on 2040-cars

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Stellantis and LG launch joint venture for North American battery plant

Stellantis has struck a preliminary deal with battery maker LG Energy Solution (LGES) to produce battery cells and modules for North America, as the world's No. 4 automaker rolls out its 30 billion euro ($35 billion) electrification plan. Global automakers are investing billions of euros to accelerate a transition to low-emission mobility and prepare for a progressive phase-out of internal combustion engines. Stellantis and LGES's joint venture will produce battery cells and modules at a new facility with an annual capacity of 40 gigawatt hours (GWh), the two firms said on Monday. No financial details of the deal were provided. The plant is scheduled to start production by the first quarter of 2024, with groundbreaking expected in the second quarter of 2022, the companies said in their statement. Its location is under review and will be announced later. Stellantis, formed in January from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA, has said it wants to secure more than 130 GWh of global battery capacity by 2025 and more than 260 GWh by 2030. The batteries produced under the deal will supply Stellantis' U.S., Canadian and Mexican assembly plants for installation in hybrid and fully electric vehicles, supporting its goal of e-vehicles making up more than 40% of its U.S. sales by 2030. The company, whose brands include Peugeot, Fiat, Opel and U.S. best-sellers Jeep and Ram, earlier this year announced it would invest more than 30 billion euros through 2025 on electrifying its vehicle lineup. Stellantis has said it would build three battery plants in Europe and two in North America, including at least one in the United States. Intesa Sanpaolo analyst Monica Bosio said the deal was positive, and a further step ahead in Stellantis' electrification process. It comes weeks after Stellantis and its partner TotalEnergies agreed to open up their battery cell joint venture ACC to Daimler, to expand their European sourcing of battery cells. Stellantis is also targeting more than 70% of sales in Europe to be of low-emission vehicles by 2030, and aims to make the total cost of owning an EV equal to that of a gasoline-powered model by 2026. Related video: Green Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Ferrari Fiat Jeep Maserati RAM Citroen Lancia Opel Peugeot Vauxhall Electric Hybrid EV batteries LG

Alfa Romeo's next GTV could arrive as an electric flagship sedan

Like every brand under the Stellantis umbrella, Alfa Romeo has until 2030 to prove it deserves to live. It's reportedly planning a major overhaul that could bring the well-known GTV nameplate back to the range on an electric sedan. Newly-minted company boss Jean-Philippe Imparato recently said he's "very interested" in making a modern-day GTV, though he significantly warned nothing was set in stone yet. British magazine Autocar understands that all options remain on the table, and one of them is putting the GTV emblem on a battery-powered sedan with a coupe-like roof line. Simultaneously GT and EV, it would be the Italian firm's answer to the BMW i4, among other sedans. It would slot at the very top of the lineup, at least in terms of price and probably in terms of performance. If the rumor is accurate, it would mark the first time the GTV nameplate appears on a four-door in the Alfa Romeo portfolio. It's been used on a number of models since its introduction on a gorgeous, Bertone-designed coupe in 1965, and they've all had two doors. Alfa Romeo came close to dusting off the GTV nameplate on a two-door version of the Giulia which would have been aimed at the BMW 4 Series and Audi's A5 line. While this strategy would have followed tradition (the original GTV was closely related to the original Giulia), the project was canned at an advanced stage due to a perceived lack of demand. Had it been launched, it would have offered a 50/50 weight distribution and about 600 horsepower. Alfisti who find the idea of an electric, four-door GTV unpalatable shouldn't worry yet. Insiders told Autocar that the nameplate might alternatively make a comeback on hybrid coupe; its fate hasn't been decided yet. Of course, it could also not return and remain in the history book, where it's been since the last GTV retired in 2004. What's seemingly certain is that new Alfa Romeo models are around the corner. One is the production version of the Tonale concept, which was reportedly delayed by Imparato earlier in 2021 due to issues with the hybrid system that will be available at launch. Replacements for the Giulia and the Stelvio are said to be in the pipeline, too.  Related Video: Green Alfa Romeo Electric Future Vehicles Performance Sedan

Alfa Romeo's new CEO sees room to bring back the GTV and the Duetto

Alfa Romeo is open to reviving the GTV and the Duetto, two of its most emblematic nameplates, in the coming years. Whether either model returns partially depends on how well the firm's more mainstream models sell. "I'm very interested in the GTV. There is no statement or announcement at this stage, but I'm just giving you a personal feeling that I'm very interested in the GTV. I also love the Duetto," said Jean-Philippe Imparato, the Peugeot veteran who became Alfa Romeo's CEO under Stellantis, in an interview with Australia's CarSales. It's far too early to tell what each model would look like with any significant degree of certainty. Besides, we've been here before: in 2018, former Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) boss Sergio Marchionne outlined a born-again GTV with 600 horsepower, some degree of electrification, all-wheel drive, and seating for four when he presented Alfa Romeo's bold five-year plan. That model has been canned, along with a 700-horsepower halo coupe called 8C. Playing it safe, Imparato cautioned that neither two-door has been approved for production. Alfa Romeo's range currently consists of the Giulia, the Stelvio and the 4C, though the latter is a niche model at the end of its life cycle. It needs to achieve volume before executives can begin exploring coupe and convertible options, and we're in a market where the quickest and most effective way to increase sales is to make SUVs and crossovers. The next new addition to the Alfa Romeo range is widely believed to be the production version of the Tonale concept from 2019. "Allow me to bring Alfa Romeo to a certain level of economic performance, and then we speak," Imparato stressed. "In this time of big changes for the industry, the first priority is to protect Alfa Romeo and drive it through the challenges related to electrification, connectivity and safety," he added. Coupes and convertibles will come later. Interestingly, he strongly hinted the reports claiming the rear-wheel-drive Giorgio platform is on its way out are false. In Alfa-speak, the GTV nameplate traces its roots to the Bertone-designed 105-Series coupe released in 1963. It was called Giulia Sprint GT at launch, and it became the Giulia Sprint GT Veloce (which means "fast" in Italian) in 1965. GTV is the acronym that stuck throughout the model's career. Alfa put the nameplate on the coupe version of the Alfetta (pictured), and it added the 6 suffix when it stuffed the 2.5-liter Busso V6 in the engine bay.