Pai la prima intalnire cu AI io zic sa le deschidem ochii ca poate nu stiu ce culori are Dinamo

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV says:

* Will invest more than 500 million euros to produce two new Alfa Romeo engines at Termoli, Italy plant

* Both engines are for future Alfa Romeo models and as such will play an important role in the brand's global relaunch

* The first engine is an advanced, high output 4-cylinder engine developed for Alfa Romeo. The second is a Ferrari-derived 6-cylinder engine developed specifically for Alfa Romeo

As they prepare to reintroduce Alfa Romeo to the U.S., Fiat Chrysler marketers are exploring the notion that shoppers are tired of look-alike German luxury cars.
Olivier Francois, FCA US' chief marketing officer, says that American and European consumers have "started to get a little bit tired" of the sameness of German luxury cars and the "copying" of their attributes by Japanese and American luxury brands.
"It's a little early to think about, but we've started our marketing reflection around Alfa," said Francois in an interview with Automotive News last week.
He said people say about German cars "'Yeah, sure, the best cars, nice-looking, great' -- but they're kind of tired. They want something new."
FCA executives have revealed few details about their plans for Alfa, which left the U.S. market 20 years ago. They have said the vehicles will be fully competitive with German luxury vehicles and will feature the brand's Italian styling and performance.
The good news is that the Alfa brand still has solid awareness among U.S. consumers, Francois said.
"When we started with Fiat, 8 percent of Americans before the reintroduction knew that Fiat was a car. That was our baseline. The baseline of Alfa is much higher," at about 30 or 40 percent, Francois said.
The two-seat Alfa Romeo 4C sports coupe went on sale in the U.S. in November.
A second vehicle, a sedan expected to carry the Giulia nameplate, is to be revealed June 24 in Milan, Italy. It is scheduled to arrive in U.S. showrooms in the first half of 2016.
"I have the feeling that we might probably hit some nerve at some point if we deliver the right product," Francois said.
In other news, Francois said:
• Even though dealers have temporarily stopped taking orders for Hellcat versions of the Dodge Charger and Challenger, FCA is planning a TV commercial in July that will feature the high-performance cars as a halo for Dodge.
Car enthusiasts crave the Hellcat cars' 707-hp engines. And videos of the cars have gone viral, creating a social-media phenomenon. Demand for the cars, which went on sale last fall, has ignited with no formal advertising.
• He chose an original song by indie rock band X Ambassadors to appeal to millennial shoppers in the advertising campaign for the new Jeep Renegade subcompact SUV. The campaign launched April 17. Millennials are mainly in their 20s and 30s.
Millennials "don't buy into advertising," Francois said. "They are more sophisticated. If you try to fool these people, you're dead. It's over. If they feel it's not totally organic, not real, not true, you're dead."
• Celebrity endorsers quickly buy market awareness. But he added that it's a "lazy" method too, even though FCA has used them. "I'm not a big fan of endorsers." He said. "I would never do the Lincoln Matthew McConaughey commercial. I love him, by the way."

E plina piata de producatori care fac utilaje agricole bune, poate e timpul ca alfa sa iasa in evidenta cu un benzinar

The Dutch magazine Autovisie has published an interview with Harald Wester in its latest edition that came out today. The main subject was the Giulia – what else? – and how important this model actually is for the brand Alfa Romeo. The CEO of Maserati and Alfa Romeo also addressed where it all went wrong in the past.

“We want to make our dealerships and all Alfisti around the world happy. Those people aren’t enough though. More Alfas need to be sold and we therefore need to attract a new audience as well. But it’s wonderful to know that so many people still love Alfa Romeo and have stood by the brand through these rough last years. These people their support is unconditional”, says Wester.

“We need to be tough on ourselves and admit that it all went horribly wrong back in 1986 when Alfa ended up in the hands of Fiat. Looking for economies of scale and synergies is a good thing, but the management completely forgot about Alfa Romeo’s heritage at the time and what it stood for. They lacked vision. The 159, for example, was a result of the partnership between GM and Fiat and was pretty much a mess. It was an enormous investment in a model that was not at all state-of-the-art.”

“Now we have started from scratch. You might wonder why we didn’t do so ten years ago, but keep in mind that we were on the verge of bankruptcy back then. I am convinced that our German colleagues were already discussing which Italian brand would be taken over by whom back in 2004-2005. Even Fiat was in trouble. General Motors paid big money back then to not be obliged to take over Fiat. Those two billion euros were a good deal, as we had no money at the time to develop new products. Fiat and Lancia in particular were entirely dependent of the Italian market; none of the two did very well abroad. Alfa Romeo was the entire opposite as the 145 and 147 sold better outside of Italy than inside. Alfa Romeo’s sole purpose was to survive at that moment because there simply wasn’t any money to invest.”

Wester appoints North-America as the most important market for Alfa Romeo in the future. He estimates some 40% of total production will be sold in the US in 2018. China should account for a quarter of the sales, leaving some 35% or 140.000 for Europe out of the 400.000 units they hope to sell globally in 2019. “We have done nothing but keeping Alfa alive in recent years. Of course the brand suffered because of this, but the best thing we have done is say no to all those who wished to buy the brand. And there were many of them; don’t think that VAG were the only ones. Even now there are still manufacturers that are interested.”

“It is said that we will be using a Chrysler-platform for our new model, but that’s complete rubbish. We have an entirely new structure ready. In this one model we will bring an entirely new chassis, a new design language and brand new engines and transmissions. The 24th of June will be a milestone in Alfa’s history, only a few of these moments have occurred in the brand’s 105-year existence. We will have to focus on models that can be sold worldwide though. A Stationwagon is typically European and for now we will use our funds for products that will sell globally only. A wagon will join the range in the future, but only once we’ve established ourselves firmly into the market place again.”

The 159, for example, was a result of the partnership between GM and Fiat and was pretty much a mess. It was an enormous investment in a model that was not at all state-of-the-art.

In this one model we will bring an entirely new chassis, a new design language and brand new engines and transmissions.

Names but no overlaps for Alfa


Design chief says Alfa must concentrate on key models without treading on Maserati and Ferrari turf
The man behind the look of the new generation of Alfa Romeos and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' head of design, Lorenzo Ramaciotti, says the Italian marque will concentrate on key markets and avoid clashes with the group's other "sports car brands" with its model roll-out.

In a frank discussion at Alfa's headquarters following the unveiling of the new Giulia on Wednesday night, Ramaciotti told motoring.com.au the brand would "carefully consider" via which body style variants it would expand its range.

Further, he stated the marque had no plans to build a Mercedes CLS-style four-door coupe, would steer away from variants like sportwagons, would use names rather than numbers and letters, and eschew engines larger than six-cylinder.

"We are rebuilding Alfa Romeo from scratch right now and we cannot imagine having a full line-up of cars like some others at the moment," Ramaciotti told motoring.com.au.

"Where there is a four-door coupe in their range, they [other OEMs] also have a four-door saloon. We have taken something in the middle with the Giulia, designing the profile of a coupe but with the space of a sedan," he stated.

Concentration is key for the brand in the early stages of its rebuilding, he suggests. It's for this reason that a reprise of Alfa's sportswagons is not on the cards, instead the brand will launch two crossovers.

"We have to focus on a portfolio of vehicles that are really worth developing on a worldwide basis and can fully sustain the type of investment needed."

"Today, the station wagon is the type of vehicle that is somewhat popular in Europe but is out in both the States and the Far East – the two main markets for us and our cars," he said simply.

Alfa will launch a deluge of new models in the next 18 months if the plans outlined last May are stuck to, but the design chief gave few clues of which of the cars we'll see next.

Whatever it is (we're tipping the mid-size crossover), he says it will get a name, not letters and numbers. He also assured Alfisti the brand is not planning on simple, cookie -cutter styling exercises.

"We want to use full names. We will make the best use of the historical names we have with Giulia and Giulietta... But then since the range will be wider, we will have space for our fantasy [imagination] with new names," Ramaciotti enthused.

"The next car you will see may be close to this one [Giulia] or more distant [in design] because we do not just want to blow-up or down this car in different sizes.

"We will use the same approach and simplicity of the balance of proportions, the quality of the surfaces. This is the main feature... [and it] will be applied to the rest of the cars to make it [the Alfa range] very coherent without 'photocopying' this car on a smaller or larger scale."

What we won't see, even in the medium term, says Ramaciotti, is an eight-cylinder Alfa Romeo. The 67-year-old 'Special Advisor to the CEO' said the company must be careful to avoid "overlaps" with the group's other "sports car brands" – in particular Maserati.

"For the moment, this [a V8] is not to be seen.


"We have to be careful to keep the space for three sports car brands in the market place – Alfa Romeo, Maserati and Ferrari. This has been carefully looked at in the project not to overlap too much between each brand," he stated.

We'll make crossovers not SUVs, says Alfa


Alfa Romeo won't build an SUV, but two crossovers are key to its success, says design chief
Jeep builds SUVs, Alfa Romeo crossovers. So says the man behind the look of the new Alfa Romeo Guilia and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' head of design, Lorenzo Ramaciotti.
Speaking at the brand's revamped headquarters at Arese on the north-western outskirts of Milan on Wednesday night, Ramaciotti confirmed FCA's renaissance brand will launch two high-riding vehicles within its current product horizon. But he was also at pains to define the vehicles not as SUVs but CUVs – crossover utility vehicles.
"It is very clear Jeep makes SUVs. It is very clear Alfa Romeo does not call them SUVs, we say CUV. We think of them more as crossover rather than sport utilities," Ramaciotti told motoring.com.au.
"It is a type of vehicle you must have in your portfolio to be successful in markets like China, so we must have them," he stated.
But more than just pumping volume, Ramaciotti believes the crossovers can fit the brand values of the new Alfa Romeo.
"There are already examples on the market, like the Maserati Kubang [Levante], where you can make a good compromise between the stance and practicality of a CUV with the dynamic shape of a sports vehicle," he commented.
Perhaps delivering a clue to the size and layout of Alfa's first CUV, Ramaciotti offered Porsche's Macan as an example of "a very nice looking sports crossover".
"And also Mercedes has shown something similar recently," he said, referring to Benz's recent unveiled GLC concept.
Ramaciotti confirmed the larger of Alfa Romeo's two vehicles would slot in under the Maserati Levante – the production vehicle that draws on Kubang for its inspiration.
"In terms of size, the large size CUV is covered by the Maserati. Alfa Romeo will place its [largest] CUV below that," he told motoring.com.au.
That will make Alfa's biggest SUV – spied here in testing hidden beneath a modified Fiat 500L-body – a direct rival for not only the Macan and GLC, but BMW's X3 and the top-selling Audi Q5.
But neither the scale of the international demand for crossover type vehicles, nor the size of the new Alfa soft-roader, will mean it will move down-market.
"The [Alfa Romeo] brand has to be in the premium segment and we want to compete against the premium manufacturers.
"We don't want to compete in the mass market [with] average cars," he said.

Expect Alfa's first SUV – based on the same 'Giorgio' platform as the Giulia – to go on sale in Europe in late 2016 and, as the company has already confirmed, for it to spearhead Alfa's US market relaunch in 2017.