2016 Fiat 500 Abarth on 2040-cars

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Fiat Chrysler's Q3 profit boosted by strong North American earnings

MILAN, Italy — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported a 17 percent jump in third-quarter adjusted operating profit on Tuesday, helped by a strong performance in its key North American market and improving operations in Europe and Latin America. The world's seventh-largest carmaker still makes the lion's share of its profits in North America, so improving, or at least maintaining, its margins there is a key focus. The carmaker reported an 8 percent adjusted operating profit margin in the region, up from 7.6 percent a year ago, despite a drop in sales and shipments. "FCA's profitability in North America remained strong in the quarter despite a weakening market there," a Milan-based analyst said. FCA's profitability compares with an 8.3 percent North America margin reached in the quarter by bigger U.S. rival GM , showing CEO Sergio Marchionne making progress towards his goal of closing the margin gap with GM and the company's other U.S. rival, Ford, by 2018. The company's confirmation of its full-year outlook also pushed shares higher, a trader added. The stock was up 2.8 percent by 1129 GMT, outperforming a 1 percent rise in the European auto index. FCA has been retooling some U.S. factories to boost output of sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and trucks while ending production of some unprofitable sedans to strengthen profitability as the U.S. car market comes off its peak. The company said a drop in North America shipments due to lower fleet sales and discontinued models was partially offset by higher deliveries of Ram trucks and two models from the Alfa Romeo stable: the Stelvio sport utility vehicle and Giulia sedan. Profitability also improved in Europe, helped by sales of the Stelvio and the new Jeep Compass, and Latin America, while margins at Maserati remained strong at 13.8 percent due to strong demand for its first SUV, the Levante. In a later conference call, investors are looking for hints on the new strategy to 2022 which the company promised to unveil early next year. Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said earlier this year that FCA would streamline its portfolio and that components businesses, including Magneti Marelli, would be separated from the group, possibly via a spin-off. While FCA confirmed its targets this year, doubts remain about its exposure to a weakening U.S. market, recall costs and potential fines over emissions after it was targeted by European and U.S.

Chrysler teases upcoming outlay of SEMA cars

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is hauling a multitude of modified models to the annual SEMA show in Las Vegas this November, and the company is releasing the first teasing sketches of many of them.
Unfortunately, FCA isn't giving many solid details on any of the concepts other than saying the vehicles from Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram and Fiat all benefit from tuning from its Mopar performance brand. The teaser photos include a sinister-looking Chrysler 200S, Fiat 500 Abarth with two-tone paint and a scorpion on the hood, a red and black 500L, seemingly two different takes on the Jeep Renegade, a green Dodge Challenger wearing the T/A badge, an orange and black Dart, a very neon Charger, just the outline of a red and black Viper, a Ram ProMaster in Mopar livery and a Ram pickup called the Outdoorsman.
Take a look through the gallery to see what you think of the sketches for these concepts, and scroll down for the full announcement from FCA.

Fiat previews a new Panda, and a whole Panda-based range of global cars

Fiat isn't attending the Geneva Motor Show, but that hasn't stopped it from going to Geneva ... Italy. That's right, there's a dainty patch of ground in Brescia called Ginevra, which is Italian for Geneva. Fiat CEO and Stellantis' chief marketing officer Olivier Francois has pulled another sly one, hosting his own miniature auto show at a bar in Ginevra to showcase Fiat's coming range of global models. The presentation is all about the Panda, old and new, with Fiat reworking the spirit and ethos of the 44-year-old nameplate into four concepts that start with an all-new Panda on Stellantis' global platform, then branch into two updates on popular current products and two all-new products. After winning the Stellantis family sales title with 1.3 million units moved last year, Francois said of the brand, "[Our] next step will be to transition from local products to a global offer that can benefit all of our customers everywhere in the world," embodying the philosophy that "functionality should never exist without fun." A plan for sharing up to 80% of parts between models, on top of that shared platform, is the key enabler. And just as we mentioned yesterday with Jeep, Fiat's talking big about the range of available powertrains, with ICE, EV, hybrid and PHEV in the mix.   Here's the heart of the new range, your all-new Panda just like it says on the door, called "City Car" in the video. Fiat will present this one to itself and the world in July this year during the company's 125th anniversary. In it can be seen the basic idea of the concept Fiat presented to itself as a 120th birthday present, the Centoventi Concept revealed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show (the one in Switzerland). We heard nothing about the Centoventi after that, its fundamentals showing up first in the Citroen C3, and from there back to Fiat with this all-new Panda. Francois called this a sort-of "Mega Panda," a phrase we want on a T-shirt, boasting a crossover-like upright design, higher driving position, and increased roominess. The entire range will emphasize sustainability, ease-of-use, and modularity. The Panda demonstrates ease with the retractable charging cable emerging from the hood. Inside, the oval motif in places like the dashboard and seats recalls Fiat's original factory in Turin, the Lingotto building with the oval test track called the La Pista 500 on its roof. If you're looking for competition to the dashing little Renault 5 that did make the trek to Switzerland, this is it.