2013 Fiat 500 Pop Hatchback 2-door 1.4l on 2040-cars

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Fiat 500X scampers across the Alps

It's been a long time coming, but it's finally here. It's the new Fiat 500X: the rounder, somehow even more retro version of the Jeep Renegade. Joining an ever-expanding Cinquecento lineup alongside the 500, 500C and 500L, the new 500X is - to our eyes at least - the most handsome yet... better looking, at any rate, than the somewhat ungainly Mini Countryman. But despite its more fluid lines, the new 500X is barely any longer than the Renegade and only slightly less tall.
Taking the place of the previous Suzuki-based Sedici, Fiat will offer the new 500X in two versions (one more cosmopolitan, the other more rugged), with three transmissions, three traction systems and a whole mess of different engines. The list starts with a 1.4-liter turbo four with 140 horsepower and a 1.6-liter diesel with 120 hp, later to be joined by a 1.6-liter with 110 hp, a more powerful 1.4-liter turbo with 170 hp and finally the 2.4-liter Tigershark engine with 184 hp. Gearboxes will include 5- and 6-speed manuals and - in a Fiat first - a nine-speed automatic, driving the front wheels (with our without traction control) or all four.
Buyers will also be able to choose between 12 exterior colors, seven interior combinations and eight wheel designs ranging from 16 inches to 18, adding up to a long list of configurations to give the 500X the same kind of mass-customization options that have made its stablemate so successful. The 500X will be manufactured in Melfi, Italy, alongside its Jeep counterpart and will eventually reach over 100 markets around the world - including North America.

Ram and Fiat working on possible midsize pickup for global markets

The midsize pickup segment is enjoying a recent boom globally, with updated models like the new Ford Ranger on the way and a revised Toyota Hilux already testing. The next automaker to take the plunge into the market might be FCA with this recently spotted, highly camouflaged truck. Click through the gallery to see the pickup wearing two different disguises during cold-weather testing. Unfortunately, they keep the truck very well hidden, and even the bed is covered in both of them. Still, it appears that the front end wears a fairly upright design, and the four-door cab is obvious. Also, take a look at the rear to spot coil springs for the suspension, rather than leaf springs. According to our spies, this vehicle's size is larger than the current front-wheel drive Fiat Strada and is closer in dimensions to models like the Ranger and Hilux. Of course, the most intriguing question is whether FCA might bring this vehicle to the US as a Ram competitor against the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. The company's five-year plan makes no mention of such a model here through at least 2018, though. However, Europe and South America are set to receive a midsize pickup in 2016. Perhaps, that's what we are seeing here. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fiat-Ram Pickup Spy Shots View 14 Photos Image Credit: CarPix Design/Style Spy Photos Fiat RAM Truck FCA

Detroit 3 and UAW set for showdown over tiered wages

This week, thousands of United Auto Workers will converge on Cobo Center in Detroit for the Special Convention on Collective Bargaining, an every-four-year event that lets members tell UAW leaders what the negotiating priorities should be during contract negotiations. This is where a lot of sand and a lot of lines start coming together in preparation for contract negotiations between the UAW and the Detroit 3 automakers, which will happen later this year. Number one on the UAW agenda is the end of the two-tier wage system created in 2007 to help the automakers get through bankruptcy; veteran workers are paid the Tier 1 rate of around $29.00 per hour, new hires are paid the Tier 2 rate of between $15 and $20 and get about half the benefits of Tier 1. Tier 2 hiring has been an undoubted success for the automakers, allowing them to keep factories in the US and hire more workers. By agreement, it is capped at a certain percentage of each automaker's workforce, and while the union's ultimate position is to get rid of the dual-scale system entirely; one leader said Ford could easily afford the $335 million it would take to convert all its workers to Tier 1 out of its $6.9 billion in 2014 North American profit, and General Motors could do the same out of the $5 billion it is handing to investors through the (admittedly forced) share buyback. Other delegates say that at the very least they'd be happy with enforcement of the current caps in the new contract. The automakers, conversely, would welcome expansion of the Tier 2 ranks. Including benefits, import automakers pay workers "in the high $40 range" per hour, according to an analyst, while Ford and GM pay about $59 in wages and benefits per hour. More Tier 2 workers on the rolls would let those two companies get labor cost parity with the competition. Fiat-Chrysler pays wages closer to the imports because of special exceptions in its UAW contract that allow unlimited Tier 2 hiring; those exceptions will end on September 14 and bring FCA into line with the other domestics, unless the new contract maintains them. FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne is opposed to the two-tier system, having called it "almost offensive." One analyst says the UAW might win a sizable pay raise for Tier 2 and a small increase for Tier 1, but the keystone issue will be how the hiring matrix can help the automakers keep overall wages in line with the imports.