Fiat 500: Italians Are Studying SUV And SW Derivatives

Fiat’s is determined to capitalize on the momentum by planning to introduce several derivatives of the recently introduced New 500. The Italian firm has already announced that it will unveil an Abarth performance version equipped with a 1.4-litre Turbo engine at the Tokyo Show in October and a convertible in 2008 (most probably in Geneva, March). Now, Fiat is considering whether it should plan a full-head attack by developing two more variants, an SUV/Crossover obviously based on the Panda 4x4 mechanics and a Station Wagon (pic above).

“By the end of the year, we expect to decide on the New 500 Station Wagon and SUV,” a Fiat executive told Automotive News Europe under condition of anonymity. From the looks of things, Fiat is pretty darn serious about it as they showed the Station Wagon version in a video during the New 500’s media introduction last week. In the clip, Fiat 500’s designer Roberto Giolito displayed the station wagon version, giving journalists a taste of what they should expect if plans go ahead. Sounds like Fiat Group’s CEO Sergio Marchionne has learned his lesson well from BMW’s MINI renaissance. Now if he could just find a way to get the 500 into the North American market...

Via: ANE

Fiat 500 Abarth: Official Presentation At The October Tokyo Show

Surprised? So are we. While most of us were expecting Fiat to unveil the turbocharged version of its 500 minicar at next year’s Geneva Show, yesterday, during the worldwide media presentation in Torino, Italy, Fiat Automobile’s CEO (not Fiat Group) Luca De Meo, announced that the 500 Abarth will make its public appearance at the forthcoming Tokyo Show this October!

We talked to several journalists that attended the media presentation in Torino, but unfortunately no one managed to dig out any information concerning the Abarth’s powertrain. We suspect though that the rang-topping 500 will wear the Grande Punto’s 1.4-liter turbocharged unit that’s available in 120Hp and 150Hp guises. Check out a video featuring a prototype 500 Abarth at the Nurburgring race track here.

Insider: BMW 1-Series Cabrio To Debut At The 2008 Geneva Show

We’re probably about 99% sure on the accuracy on the inside info on this BMW 1-Series Cabrio. If it were anything less we wouldn’t even have bothered sharing… follow the jump to see what we mean. As you can see from the spy photos that we took a few months ago, the 1-Series Coupe’s roofless alter ego will be fitted with a conventional canvas top just like the 6-Series Cabriolet and in contrast to the 3-Series Cabriolet, which is equipped with an electric folding hard-top. Although there’s no official information, we suspect that BMW preferred the soft-top to a hardtop not only because it’s quite cheaper but also because the canvas roof takes up less space from the boot.

Power is likely to come from the same range of engines as known from the 1-Series Coupe, which means, a 230Hp 3.0-litre petrol unit for the 128i, a 306Hp twin turbo 3.0-litre petrol engine for the 130i and in Europe, a 177Hp 2.0-litre turbodiesel for the 120d and a 204Hp 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel for the 123d. We expect the 1-Series Cabriolet to go on sale shortly after its premiere at the 2008 Geneva Show in March. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

We know that this part is off-topic, but we think some of you will find it interesting.

Patiently waiting to see the light of day, the 1-Series Cabriolet and Coupe scoop images weren’t the only things lying around on our desktop the past few months. We had also written an article to accompany the pics, but due to the numerous rumors about the upcoming 2 door 1-Series we hesitated since we weren’t sure what to believe. So, we decided to disclose both. Confused? Read the article below that we wrote several months ago and you’ll understand.

Question of the Day: BMW 1-Series Coupe & Cabrio or just plain Coupe-Cabrio?

We have to admit that we’re kind of confused with this one. During a one-on-one chitchat with a high-rank BMW official we were led to believe that there will only be one version of the 2door 1-Series when the car goes on sale in 2008: a Coupe-Cabrio with an electric folding hardtop. With the curious minds that we have, we also asked a PR who categorically confirmed the fact.

Theoretically, two ultra-reliable sources should be enough to break a story, but since we have a true love affair with “buts” (and butts, but that’s another story…) we contacted an inside source of ours that hasn’t proved us wrong up to now when it comes to BMW’s. Guess what; he claimed that to his knowledge, BMW will present two versions: a 1-Series Coupe and a 1-Series Cabriolet with a soft-top!

Chrysler / Dodge Crew CUV Concept To Debut At Frankfurt Show

Chrysler Group is planning to unveil a concept version of its forthcoming mid-size CUV, better known in the US as the Chrysler and Dodge crossovers coded JC49 and JZ49 (pic above from AMS), at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. How do we know? Well, according to an off-the-record conversation we had with a Chrysler Group Europe source of ours and even though this hasn’t been officially announced, it’s 99% certain that the American carmaker will debut the MPV/Crossover concept dubbed “Crew” at the German car Show. What our source couldn’t tell us is whether the Crew will wear a Dodge or Chrysler badge –though we’ve heard that the Crew nameplate will be used for the Dodge model. -Continued after the jump

Smaller than the recently introduced Chrysler Town & Country or as Europeans know it, Voyager, the Crew will make use of the Chrysler Sebring / Dodge Avenger platform with production scheduled for January 2008 meaning that the production version will debut either at the L.A. Show in November or at NAIAS in January ’08.

Picture via: Automotorsport

Alfa Romeo's Official Product Plan Reveals Details On Junior, 149 & GTA Models

Last Tuesday, during the 10th Morgan Stanley Automotive Conference in London, Alfa Romeo’s CEO Antonio Baravalle revealed official details and technical specifications on the Italian carmaker’s future portfolio. For those of you who have been “stalking” Carscoop for a while, you’ll probably remember that last year, in a similar gathering, Fiat Group unveiled the 2008–2010 product plans for all three makes of the Group (Alfa, Fiat & Lancia). In Alfa Romeo’s case, what’s new here is that we get details about the forthcoming Junior and 149 models.

So let’s see what Alfa Romeo has in store for us. Beginning from the Junior, Alfa’s “MINI killer will go on sale in the second quarter of 2008 with a starting price of €16.000.- $21.800. Based on the B-Segment Fiat Grande Punto,” the Junior will be available with a variety of engines, from an entry-level 95Hp unit (Fiat’s 1.4-liter 16v) to a 230Hp top-notch version wearing the GTA badge. All Juniors get a standard 6-speed gearbox with an automatic transmission being offered optionally. As you can seen on Alfa’s official sketches, the premium sport hatch’s design is inspired from the extravagant 8c Competizione. -Continued: Click “Read More…” below

Following the Junior, in the first quarter of 2009 Alfa Romeo will present the successor to its 147 C-Segment hatch that will most probably be called 149. Designed to compete against the likes of Audi’s A3 and BMW’s 1-Series hatch, the 4.3m long 149 will use an evolution of the Fiat Bravo platform featuring a multi-link rear suspension and Active Roll Control. In the engine department Alfa say’s that the 149 will be offered with several powetrains starting from a base 120Hp unit (Fiat’s 1.4-litre T-Jet) up to 265Hp (Alfa’s 3.2 V6) for the GTA version. Transmission options include a standard 6-speed gearbox and an automatic. Like the Junior (though less aggressive), the 149’s design takes several design cues from the 8c Competizione.

All well? Mmm, I’d definitely say no, because I nearly had a heart attack upon viewing the 149’s basic price tag: €28.000 or…$38.200! For the love of God Alfa, that’s BMW 3-Series territory! Even if you get everything right -which I seriously, seriously doubt judging from the Fiat Group’s latest product portfolio (…), who the hell will give €28.000 for a 120Hp 1.4-litre 149 when you can get a 160Hp Audi A3 1.8TFSI for much less? Tell me that was a typo mistake, please…

Crazy but anyway, before we close this post lets see the other two products that Alfa’s readying for 2009/2010. Alfa 169: think of it as something like a “poor-man” Maserati Quattroporte. The sporty 4-sedan will cost between €40.000 to 55.000 ($54k to 75k) but it remains unknown whether it will get a FWD, 4WD or RWD biased platform –yeah right… Second up the CXover, Alfa’s first ever SUV that will be available in the first quarter of 2010. Unlike the Junior, the CXover will be (?) priced logically at €28.000 to 45.000 ($38k to 61k).

Insiders: Mercedes Officially Names Its Forthcoming Compact SUV, "GLK"

As we reported earlier this month, Mercedes-Benz gave journalists a sneak peek of their upcoming compact SUV that’ll officially go under the name, “GLK”. To everyone’s misfortune and although the SUV was on stage during a presentation that took place a couple of days ago in Austria, MB avoided taking off the black cloak leaving everyone with a bitter taste. What’s worse is that Mercedes showed a couple of final stage CGI’s (Computer Generated Images) to journalists but thanks to a “zelletelefone” embargo and eagle-eyed MB officials, we doubt that anyone managed to snap a shot. Guess we’ll have to wait a few weeks before the public unveiling at the Frankfurt Show in September to get an official glimpse of MB’s X3 adversary. (Pic: Mercedes GL-Class)

BMW 1-Series Coupe: Early July Presentation Confirmed

Last week we informed you about an article in Car Magazine reporting that the initial info (specs and pictures) of the BMW 1-Series Coupe will be unveiled on July 1st. As promised, we contacted our BMW source today. While he couldn't confirm the specific date (July 1st), he did tell us that according to the latest briefing he had, BMW will release the preliminary specs and images of the 2008 1-Series Coupe in early July.

PS: These spy pictures were taken during a recent trip of ours to the BMW headquarters in Germany

Insider: 2008 Mazda 6 To Be Introduced In October, Sales Start In November

Thanks to an internal e-mail we received, we found out that the all-new Mazda6 will make its public debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Show (September 13-23) with pan-European sales starting in mid-November. According to our contact, Mazda will unleash teaser pictures and a preliminary press release of the new Mazda6 in the first week of September. The new 6 will be based on the 2008 Ford Mondeo / S-Max D-segment platform and its styling will be inspired from the latest Mazda models like the CX-7, MX-5 and RX-8. It remains unknown whether Mazda will also reveal the sporty MPS version in Frankfurt or if they'll wait to present it at a latter date. (picture: current Mazda6)

Mercedes GLK or MLK To Be Presented To The Press In June

We just received off the record information that Mercedes is planning to surprise members of the press by unveiling the all-new GLK or as others call it, MLK, compact SUV during the late June press gathering for the presentation of… -well, thee who have received the invitation, know the exact date and reasons for the trip so let’s not say any more. Unfortunately, from what we learned, there’s going to be an embargo on info and pictures. But there’s no need to worry as Mercedes will probably hand out preliminary images and specs well before the confirmed Frankfurt Show premier of their BMW X3 adversary in September. (Picture featured above Mercedes M-Class)

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