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Fiat brand chief reassigned then resigns amid flagging sales

Jason Stoicevich was replaced as head of the Fiat brand in North America just the other day. He was immediately reassigned to another job within Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. But according to Automotive News, Stoicevich quit the new job – and the company altogether – the very next day. The development comes amidst flagging sales for the Fiat brand in America. The introduction of the awkward-looking 500L multi-purpose vehicle has been largely regarded as a sales disaster in the US. Despite having just introduced the new 500X into the growing crossover market, and an overall upward trend across FCA group sales, the Fiat brand's figures have been dropping all year. While the Italian brand's volume has fluctuated from month to month compared to last year's sales, the number of cars its dealers sells on an average day has been firmly in decline. Fiat's downward trend reflects a general tendency in the market towards larger vehicles at the expense of smaller ones. However, the powers that be in Auburn Hills evidently felt that a change of leadership was in order, so it placed Dodge chief Tim Kuniskis in charge of all the company's mass-market passenger-car brands – namely Dodge, Chrysler, and Fiat – and moved Stoicevich to running the group's fleet and small-business operations. Stoicevich remained in charge of the company's California Business Center, but it seems as though he was as dissatisfied with the switch as his superiors were with the performance of the brand over which he presided, and so he apparently elected to step down and leave the company.

At meeting with automakers, Trump launches new attack on NAFTA

WASHINGTON — Ten American and foreign automakers went to the White House on Friday to push for a weakening of U.S. fuel efficiency standards through 2025, while President Donald Trump used the occasion to launch a fresh attack on the North American Free Trade Agreement that has benefited the companies. A draft proposal circulated by the U.S. Transportation Department would freeze fuel efficiency requirements at 2020 levels through 2026, rather than allowing them to increase as previously planned. Trump's administration is expected to formally unveil the proposal later this month or in June. "We're working on CAFE standards, environmental controls," Trump told reporters at the top of the meeting, referring to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards for cars and light trucks in the United States. Trump said he wants automakers to build more vehicles in the United States and export more vehicles. But much of the hour-long meeting focused on NAFTA. Trump blasted the pact involving the United States, Canada and Mexico as "terrible" and noted that negotiations to make changes sought by his administration were ongoing. "NAFTA has been a horrible, horrible disaster for this country and we'll see if we can make it reasonable," Trump said. Automakers have called NAFTA a success, allowing them to integrate production throughout North America and make production competitive with Asia and Europe, and have noted the increase in auto production over the past two decades with the deal in place. They have warned that changing NAFTA too much could prompt some companies to move production out of the United States. The chief executives of General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co, Fiat Chrysler, along with senior U.S. executives from Toyota Motor Corp, Volkswagen AG, Hyundai Motor Co, Nissan Motor Co, Honda Motor Co , BMW AG and Daimler AG met with Trump, as did the chief executives of two auto trade groups. Major automakers reiterated this week they do not support freezing fuel efficiency requirements but said they want new flexibility and rule changes to address lower gasoline prices and the shift in U.S. consumer preferences to bigger, less fuel-efficient vehicles.

Junkyard Gem: 1978 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Before the Fiat 124 Spider was a Mazda, it was the 124 Sport Spider, the two-seat convertible version of the huge-selling (in Europe) 124 sedan. Sold in the United States from the 1968 through 1985 model years (with the final few years sporting Pininfarina badges, courtesy of Malcolm Bricklin), these fan and affordable cars were once everywhere on our roads and owners have tried to hang onto them even after they break down. As a result, I see about as many 124 Sport Spiders in junkyards these days as I did 40 years ago, when you could still buy them new. Here's a little red devil of a '78 Sport Spider, found in a San Francisco Bay Area car graveyard a few years back. This car's main sales rival in the United States was the similarly fun and affordable MGB, and I still find plenty of those in the boneyards to this day. The MGB was sturdier but a bit more primitive than the Sport Spider, and both suffered from maddeningly unpredictable electrical systems. The price tag on this car was $6,495, or about $30,780 in 2022 dollars. The 1978 MGB cost $5,649 ($26,770 now) that year. If you wanted the much quicker Alfa Romeo Spider in 1978, you had to shell out $9,195 ($43,570 today). While the MGB's antiquated pushrod straight-four made just 62.5 horsepower in 1978 (yes, British Leyland claimed that half-horse), the '78 Sport Spider put out 86 horsepower from its DOHC engine. The curb weight of the Spider was lower, too (2,180 pounds versus the Brit's 2,338 pounds). This one has a much-faded 1990 San Francisco residential parking permit, for Zone C. That's the upscale Nob Hill neighborhood, where this car must have seemed a little too much on the proletariat side. These cars tend to spend decades sitting in a driveway or yard, awaiting repairs that may never come. Eventually, reality comes calling and they take that final tow-truck ride to a place like this. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Motorcars in the great European tradition.