By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos
If you’re just getting use to the idea of having to keep track of six instead of five or four gears in your car’s gearbox, you may want to stop reading this article now. More than likely, your next new vehicle will have more gears than a mechanical watch.
Pininfarina's Ferrari Sergio concept car. Photo: John LeBlanc
By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada
Geneva, Switzerland — With no major, international Italian auto show on the calendar, Switzerland’s Geneva event is the closest geographically for Italy's design houses to show their wares. And this year’s Swiss show was no different, with all the big studios — Bertone, IED ItalDesign Giugiaro and Pinanfarina — showing up with new concepts and show cars.
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
Not content with Ford grabbing all the headlines with its new global full-size Transit van that'll finally replace the ancient E-Series in North America, Ram confirmed a plan to do exactly the same thing. Its upcoming ProMaster commercial van is based on the Fiat Ducato, although it'll be 'Americanized' with Ram styling cues and features to make it more popular to buyers on this side of the Atlantic.
Few other details were revealed, but we'd assume that the ProMaster will offer gasoline and turbodiesel engine options and will be available in a variety of lengths, heights and built-in equipment levels. Currently, the rear-drive Ducato is offered with several four-cylinder turbodiesel four-cylinders, the most powerful being a 3.0-litre with 175 horsepower and 300 lb-ft of torque. However, the only transmission offered is a six-speed manual, which would need to be supplemented by an automatic version to have any traction in North America.
This is technically Ram's second kick at the can in terms of importing and rebadging European vans. Back when Chrysler was owned by Mercedes-Benz, Dodge sold the popular Sprinter in its dealerships, but that relationship ended in 2010 after Fiat bought Chrysler. Mercedes-Benz now handles its own Sprinter business again.
Speaking of Ford, it also revealed some interesting information about the aforementioned Transit, namely that a 3.2-litre Powerstroke turbodiesel five-cylinder will be available to interested buyers. In Europe, the engine is rated at 197 horsepower and 347 lb-ft of torque, but we'll have to wait until closer to its North American launch to get Canadian power and fuel efficiency figures.
The Powerstroke diesel is one of "several" engines Ford is going to offer in North American Transits. The availability of the gasoline-powered twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 from the F-150 has already been confirmed.
With new product on the ground from Nissan, and these new offerings from Ford and Ram, General Motors' Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana twins are looking even more tired...
By Jake Lingeman, AutoWeek
Fiat has issued a few teaser photos of the 2014 Fiat 500e battery-electric vehicle ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show. Changes include a sleeker all-around look, new wheel choices and a redesigned front.
Instead of a body-colour-surrounded grille, Fiat goes with an accenting color that stretches from the bumper to the lower front lip of the car. In the teaser photo this is white, making the change stand out even more.
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
It must be hard for an auto executive to stay cool in the face of a misinterpreted or plain-old fabricated story that somehow keeps gaining traction in the public eye.
The latest example of this comes between Ralph Gilles, head honcho at Chrysler's SRT division and designer extraordinare who brought us such lovelies as the new SRT Viper and the original Chrysler 300, and Donald Trump, a man who never turned down an opportunity to hear the sound of his own voice.
The background here is that Chrysler recently signed an agreement to restart Jeep production in China, something that had been going on for years already before the company's bankruptcy killed it. Now, because this is a highly politicized time in the United States thanks to the upcoming presidential election, somehow this story took a sudden right turn and people assumed that ALL Jeep production was heading to China.
Mitt Romney's Republican team went so far as to create a series of campaign ads slamming President Obama about letting 'good American jobs' get outsourced to China, nevermind that the current Jeep production lines aren't going anywhere. The lines in China will serve local demand in the Asian market.
Despite the non-story being debunked several times, Trump picked up the ball and ran with it, going so far as to tell his near 2 million Twitter followers that, "Obama is a terrible negotiator. He bails out Chrysler and now Chrysler wants to send all Jeep manufacturing to China--and will!"
Gilles had apparently had enough and told Trump that he was full of - ahem - manure. (Insert slow golf clap here. We agree.)
Anyway, a day later and Gilles has apologized for the language but not for the message. Unfortunately, people like Trump care very little for the truth in their quest for power and influence.
What do you think of the whole situation? Was Gilles' reply out of line? Would a different approach have worked better? Let us know.
By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada
Ever since Italy’s Fiat took over managing America's bankrupt and government bailed-out Chrysler, the idea of sexy new Alfa Romeos becoming available for the first time since the mid-1990s has always been the carrot, tantalizingly dangled in front of panting Alfa fans. But, as the Alfista are already painfully aware, that promise is now over three years old, and yet to be fulfilled. And—surpise, surprise—Fiat seems to not be in a big hurry to bring Alfas back to Canada any time soon.
By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada
Along with a high-performance version of its subcompact box-on-wheels, the above headline is the question Kia will ask soon enough, as the Korean automaker ramps up for the launch of its second-generation Soul family next year.
By John LeBlanc for MSN Autos Canada
Let’s be honest: if BMW’s modern Mini had been a sales flop, we would never have seen the modern Fiat 500. Like the new Mini, the teeny Fiat is cute, cuddly, and fun-to-drive, with styling that harkens back to an original post-World War Two city car. And just as Fiat has copied BMW’s formula for a modern small car, it’s also mimicking the German automaker by expanding the 500 brand with a host of body styles and variants.
By Luca Ciferri, AutoWeek
Fiat gave an unexpected sneak preview of a crossover variant of its 500 minicar.
The model, which will be called the 500X, will go on sale in Europe in early 2014 and shortly after in North America.
Fiat brand global boss Olivier Francois showed a full-size styling model of the 500X during the media launch on the 500L small minivan in Turin, Italy, on July 4.
The 500X will replace the Sedici in Fiat's lineup. Like the Sedici, it will have SUV and hatchback styling.
The 500X will be the fifth variant in the 500 range, joining the 500 three-door hatchback, Abarth performance version, 500C convertible and the 500L small minivan.
At about 165.4 inches long, the 500X will be the longest model in the 500 family. Like the 500L it will use a widened version of Fiat's small vehicle architecture that underpins the Punto subcompact.
Fiat plans to begin production of the 500X in December 2013 as part of a planned $1.24 billion expansion of its Mirafiori, Turin, plant to build 280,000 small crossovers a year.
Jeep sister model
The 500X likely will be built alongside a new Jeep small SUV, code-named B-SUV, which is scheduled to go into production in the second quarter of 2014. The B-SUV will be smaller than the Jeep Compass and Patriot and will be sold in the United States, Europe and other markets.
If the plan will be confirmed, the 500X will be the first variant of the current 500 range built in Italy. The 500 three-door is built in Poland for European markets and by Chrysler in Mexico for America and China.
The 500X will be offered with front- and all-wheel-drive variants. The Jeep sister model will also come with a Trail Rated version, crucial for the U.S. market.
With the launch of the 500X, Fiat will end an agreement with Suzuki for Sedici production alongside its sister model, the Suzuki SX4, at the Japanese automaker's factory in Hungary.
500L launch
The 500L will go on sale in September in Europe and in the second half of next year in North America. It will be built in Fiat's plant in Kragujevac, Serbia, which built Yugo cars when it belonged to Zastava Automobili.
By Mark Atkinson for MSN Autos
Fans of British car mags probably know Chris 'Monkey' Harris and are familiar with his tail-out antics, love for Porsches, ability to speak frankly about the subject at hand, and really, really enjoy cars and driving them.
Harris' latest project is for a YouTube channel called DRIVE, and his weekly-ish features generally involve expensive or exotic cars driven somewhere in Europe. Well, what I mean is that Harris is usually the one driving.
This week, however, Harris was invited to a Pirelli event in Italy where the company introduced a new tire aimed at the historic rally car market. Needless to say, it was a very 'Italian' event, both in the setting - which included some of the stage roads that make up the legendary San Remo Rally - the vehicles and rally stars there and the laid back attitude towards scheduling and such.
To make a long story shorter, Harris gets to ride shotgun with multiple World Rally champions Markku Alen and Juha Kankkunen. The cars? A trio of Lancia's finest: Stratos, and Group B monsters, the 037 and Delta S4.
Turn up your speakers, if you can! It's amazing how alive and quick those 30-year-old machines are.
Click through to see the video below.
Justin Couture
Reportedly, the first word to come out of his mouth was "car," and since then it's evolved into a life-long passion. Justin is a fan of passionately engineered vehicles, but in general, loves the industry as much as the cars it produces. Justin is the Assistant Editor of MSN Autos, and manages The Passing Lane.
Mark Atkinson
Mark has a decade’s experience driving and writing about thousands of vehicles, and two decades before as an inveterate car nut and race fan. He’s also a first-time father, so you’ll need to excuse the occasional half-awake daddy rant about how his daughter’s car-seat won’t fit.
John LeBlanc
After a career in advertising and marketing, John decided to turn his jaundiced eye towards the world of cars. Since then, he's become one of Canada's most vociferous critics of the industry, delivering objective analysis of the new car scene.
