Club Alfa Sport » industry news

Sergio Cravero appointed to head Alfa Romeo

media — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:18:52 +0000

Sergio Cravero has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of Alfa Romeo Automobiles, where he served as head of marketing prior to today’s appointment. Mr. Cravero, 48, was born in Turin and holds a degree in mechanical engineering. He joined Fiat Group Automobiles in 1986 and has held various positions of growing responsibility in the technical, commercial and marketing areas. Following this new appointment, responsibility for individual brands is as follows:

Fiat: Lorenzo Sistino,
Lancia: Olivier François,
Alfa Romeo: Sergio Cravero,
Fiat Professional: Lorenzo Sistino.
Abarth: Harald Wester, who will continue in his role as Chief Technical Officer for Fiat Group and Chief Executive Officer of Maserati.

In addition, to enhance the effectiveness of Fiat Group Automobiles and further strengthen synergies within the company, four new transversal functions are being created. The new functions are: · Sales, assigned to Lorenzo Sistino, who will be responsible for coordinating commercial activities for the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands. This new function will have responsibility for all markets. · Brand Marketing Communication, assigned to Olivier François, who will be responsible for coordinating above-the-line and below-the-line communication activities for all brands. · Product Portfolio Planning, Automotive Institutional Relations, assigned to Daniele Chiari, who will be responsible for planning for passenger vehicles and powertrain and for managing institutional relations for the Sector. · Product Concept, assigned to Sergio Cravero, who will be responsible for coordinating product development of individual models and determining product initiatives for the Fiat, Lancia and Alfa Romeo brands. Sergio Cravero, 48, was born in Turin. He graduated in mechanical engineering at Turin Politecnico and has a Masters in Business Administration from Milan Politecnico. He joined Fiat Group Automobiles in 1986, in the Commercial division, where he worked as Product Manager and then Zone Manager for the Fiat brand. In 1991, he moved to the Product division where he was responsible for development of the Barchetta spider and, subsequently, for all Fiat and Lancia brand B segment models. In 1999, he returned to the Commercial area as Brand Manager for Alfa Romeo, where he was involved in development of the 147, awarded “2001 Car of the Year”. In 2002, he took over responsibility for the E development platform for the Fiat and Lancia brands. Since 2005, he has been head of marketing for Alfa Romeo.

REPORT: Fiat marketing chief & Alfa Romeo CEO Luca de Meo defects to Volkswagen (autoblog.com)
Italian Job: Fiat Seeks US Comeback (abcnews.go.com)

New Alfa Romeo ‘expected to retain most value’

Honest John - London,UK — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 13:19:06 +0000

From HonestJohn.co.uk

Motorists who are concerned with the resale value of a vehicle when buying a car may be impressed by the latest addition to Alfa Romeo's range. According to the manufacturer, statistics from industry expert Cap have revealed the Alfa MiTo is expected to retain more of its original price tag after 10,000 miles and one year than any other model in the UK. Owners selling the 1.3 JTDM after this period of time have been advised they can expect to receive 81 per cent of what they paid when the car was brand new. This is five per cent more than its nearest competitor from Mini.

: Image via Wikipedia

Used vehicle remarketing manager Simon Wheeler said: "This is significant testimony to the exceptional attention to detail Alfa Romeo has applied to this car in terms of design, build quality, reliability, running costs and desirability." The vehicle's safety credentials may also impress buyers after it recently secured the maximum five-star rating from Euro Ncap.

Euro NCAP reveals new car safety tests (telegraph.co.uk)
Alfa Romeo MiTo in UK dealerships shortly, deliveries start in January (lightbulbs.org)

New engines for Fiat and Alfa

Channel 4 News - London,England,UK — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:19:12 +0000

Alfa Romeo Brera

The Fiat Group will announce a series of new engines and new technologies at the Geneva Motor Show next month, including a new 1.8 16v petrol unit. Italiaspeed reports that the 1.8 16v engine will be used in the upcoming Alfa Romeo 159, the Lancia Delta, the Alfa Romeo Brera, Spider and Mito GTA. It will be offered in 170bhp, 200bhp and 230bhp outputs (the latter reserved for the Brera, Spider and Mito GTA) and features both direct injection and continuously-variable inlet and exhaust cam timing. It will be offered with either six-speed manual or six-speed 'Q-tronic' automatic transmissions. Fiat Powertrain Technologies is also said to be close to production of its Multijet 2 new-generation diesel injection technology, and its Multiair electrohydraulic valve-actuation system. Multiair is said to improve torque from petrol engines by up to 20% at lower engine speeds and boost power by 10-15%, yet reduce fuel consumption by up to 10%. The Multijet 2 engines will also be launched in Frankfurt, with new injection pump and solenoid injectors for more precise fuel delivery; these engines will meet the Euro 5 emissions standards, with reduced nitrous oxide emissions. Besides small units like the 1.3 diesel, Fiat is preparing a 3.0 V6 Multijet 2 diesel, currently being tested in prototypes.

Cash burn accelerates – Automotive News Europe

(author unknown) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 08:04:02 +0000

Fiat cancelled its dividend payment and delayed the redesign of the Alfa Romeo 147, Fiat Panda and Lancia Ypsilon by a year. -- Renault and Nissan are delaying their participation in joint venture plants in India and Morocco. ... Automotive News - Automaker News Feeds - http://www.autonews.com/

The plan: 7 Fiat vehicles for US

Automotive News - USA — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 06:02:10 +0000

Alfa Romeo MiTo, plus a vehicle for one of Chrysler's brands. A vehicle on Fiat's C-Evo platform made at a US Chrysler plant, possibly a Dodge Caliber ...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="100" caption="Image by Getty Images via Daylife"][/caption]

Everyone Wins in a Fiat-Chrysler Deal (wired.com)

Fiat CEO Reveals Plan to Bring Alfa to U.S. Ahead of Schedule in 2010

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:03:37 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

From MotorTrend

Could we be seeing non-supercar Italian automobiles on U.S. streets again sooner than expected? Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters at the Paris Motor Show today that Fiat has stepped up plans to reintroduce the Alfa Romeo brand into the U.S. by 2010, rather than 2011 or 2012 as previously reported.

The Fiat/Alfa saga has been going on for months now. We’ve been following it since March, when Marchionne first confirmed that Fiat Group wanted to return to the U.S. Since then, details have been scarce, but the basic plan appears to be to bring the Fiat 500 here first, then start bringing over Alfa cars. Fiat Group has been consistently quoted as saying Alfa will reach the U.S. in 2011 or 2012, and that a key element of the plan is securing a U.S. manufacturing site, likely in partnership with Chrysler or one of the other Detroit 3. While a deal has still not been announced, Marchionne appears to be confident enough in the plan to bump up Alfa’s return date.

“In 2010 we should be there with distribution,” Marchionne told the ANSA news agency.

The announcement comes as a surprise, not only because no manufacturing deal has been announced, but because at the same time, Marchionne was quoted by the Apcom news agency warning about the instability of the auto market.

“There is uncertainty everywhere, the market has lost its sense of reason,” said Marchionne. “We must look very carefully at the fourth quarter, and then we’ll be able to make a better estimate for 2009.”

: Image via Wikipedia

Despite those concerns, Marchionne told Apcom that Fiat Group’s 2008 forecasts remain the same. The group is targeting net profit between 2.4 billion euros and 2.6 billion euros ($3.82 billion to $4 billion), or 1.90 euros to 2 euros ($3.02 to $3.18) per share.

While Fiat/Alfa-in-the-U.S. details are still hard to come by, when Marchionne speaks, we listen. Given everything he’s done for Fiat Group so far, if anyone can bring affordable Italian cars back to the U.S., he can.

Aspetta, Per Favore: Alfa Romeo’s U.S. Return Delayed (Again) Until 2011

admin — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:57:05 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Just when you think you’re about to put a fine Italian sports sedan in your garage, they take it away again — after announcing Alfa Romeo would return to U.S. shores after a fifteen year absence, parent company Fiat’s plans to set up a local production facility and dealer network have suffered repeated delays. And now CEO Sergio Marchionne is moving back the quadrifoglio brand’s arrival date yet again, saying a launch won’t occur until at least 2011.

Flush with cash thanks its to business acumen and the success of its 500 hatchback, Fiat has been bucking global trends recently,posting strong sales and even increasing production. And while talks to build American-market Alfas at empty Chrysler factories appear to have fizzled, recently Marchionne declared that “in 2010 we should be there with distribution” in the U.S., and a tiny number of 8C Competizione supercars even went on sale this month. But it seems that even Fiat can’t avoid the economic turmoil currently hitting the auto industry, and in a recent analysts call the CEO was forced to go back on his previous statement, saying “it would simply be crazy to invest in bringing Alfa back to a depressed U.S. market.” Instead he says the brand now plans to return in 2011, when the market has hopefully improved.

: Image via Wikipedia

With sales down dramatically and credit markets virtually frozen, many automakers are cutting back projects and selling off businessesin an attempt to survive until the economy rebounds. With even the world’s number one automaker Toyota feeling the pinch right now, convincing nervous American buyers to take a chance on an Italian brand last seen in 1995 could prove difficult. And while AmericanAlfisti are no doubt eager for their favorite automaker to return to the U.S. as soon as possible, they only have to wait a little bit longer — that is, as long as Fiat’s plans don’t change again.

Club Alfa Sport » industry news

Sergio Cravero appointed to head Alfa Romeo

Related articles by Zemanta

New Alfa Romeo ‘expected to retain most value’

Related articles by Zemanta

New engines for Fiat and Alfa

Cash burn accelerates – Automotive News Europe

The plan: 7 Fiat vehicles for US

Related articles by Zemanta

Fiat CEO Reveals Plan to Bring Alfa to U.S. Ahead of Schedule in 2010

Related articles by Zemanta

Aspetta, Per Favore: Alfa Romeo’s U.S. Return Delayed (Again) Until 2011

Related articles by Zemanta