>>> click on the images to see 23 high resolution photographs of the new Alfa Romeo 147 GTA.
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| Alfa Romeo have released
high resolution images of the new Alfa Romeo 147 GTA on the road. Launched
at the recent Paris Motor Show, this 3.2 V6 engined GTA-specification version
hits the showrooms in December.
>>> click on the images to see 23 high resolution photographs of the new Alfa Romeo 147 GTA. |
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 Yesterday
thousands of Fiat workers marched in Italy, blocking motorway and rail
links, in response to Wednesday's announcement of 8,100 lay-offs,
a cut of almost 20% of the car manufacturer's workforce. Further walkouts
are planned for today.
As well as the redundancies, two plants are expected to close outright: the old Alfa Romeo plant at Arese which now employs just 700 workers converting Multiplas to methane and LPG power, and the Termini Imerese plant near Palermo in Sicily, second line for the Punto, which has around 2,000 workers. Cutbacks will hit Mirafiori which will see 1,000 jobs lost with the imminent demise of the Marea and another 1,500 mid next year when the Panda is phased out. Around 300 of Fiat's top 1,000 executives are to be given their notice within the next few weeks, which has led to managers being more concerned with their survival than concentrating on turning the company around. Stockmarkets yesterday were unimpressed with Fiat CEO Giancarlo Boschetti's announcement, Fiat shares lost around 1% on news of the lay-offs, analysts believing that the cuts were now swinging enough. The markets believe much will now ride with new products coming to the market, including the vital "New Small", the Panda/Seicento replacement, due mid next year. |
 Ferrari
are planning a much more radical facelift of the 360 Modena, which is expected
to be released late next year. Concern about dropping behind its rivals,
which include the shortly to be released "baby" Lamborghini L140, as well
as the lukewarm reception that the facelifted 575M has received since its
launch earlier this year, has pushed Ferrari into greater changes than
originally envisioned.
The new car will be fitted with Ferrari's new 4.2-litre V8 engine which is already fitted to the new Maserati Coupe and Spyder. However to keep Ferrari above Maserati, the 184kg engine is expected to be tuned to produce around 465bhp, 75bhp more than in the Maserati. Styling will be overhauled, the 360 Modena has come in for criticism for its bland looks and a much more distinctive styling is expected, possibly drawing cues from the new Enzo supercar. It is believed that the new car will be known as the "420 Modena", and is scheduled to make its debut in September next year, several months after its Lamborghini rival. |
Fourth place in the first of two European Touring Car Championship races
at Donnington Park on Suday was enough to seal this years driver's title
for Nordauto Alfa Romeo pilot Fabrizio Giovanardi. At the same time, points
accumulated by Giovanardi, along with a third place in race one for Gabriele
Tarquini ( he also finished third in race two, but a 25 second penalty
dropped him to seventh ), driving a similar Alfa Romeo 156 GTA, was enough
to clinch the manufacturer's title for the Italian marque.
Overall it was a poor showing for Alfa Romeo at the penultimate round of the Championship. Conceeding pole to BMW, carnage on the opening lap of the first race immediately eliminated Alfa 156 GTA drivers Nicola Larini and Roberto Colciago. With Giovanardi making a poor start, Gabriele Tarquini, making a return to Alfa Romeo after a six year absence, was left to take the fight to BMW. While Jorge and Dirk Muller took a win apiece for the Schitzer BMW team, Tarqini's two third places made him Alfa's highest placed finisher of the afternoon. |
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| Full report from the Paris Motor Show. A significant event for the Italian automotive industry the event has seen the world premieres of the Alfa Romeo 147 GTA and Fiat Stilo Stationwagon, while Ferrari's 600bhp Enzo supercar has received its official presentation. Other interesting debuts include the stylish Lancia Thesis based "Grandturismo" concept car while Maserati has unveiled the Coupe-based Trofeo race car and announced a seven race series for these cars. | ||||
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 Fiat's
share of its all important domestic market fell for the ninth consecutive
month as the carmaker bucked the slight overall upward trend for September.
Fiat sold 7.5% less cars last month year-on-year, a reduction of market
share from 32.1% to 28.7%.
Fiat however claimed the reduction in non-profitable sales to car retal agancies and ending discounting have to be factored in, while pointing to a rise of 2.3% in European sales excluding Italy. Analysts expressed disappointment that Fiat was unable to gain from the government's incentive to trade in older polluting cars for newer environmentally friendly models. Fiat's rivals including Ford, Toyota, Renault, Opel and BMW through the popular new Mini all gained market share. Italian newspapers report that Fiat is considering reducing or shutting its overseas operations where the profits are minimal, Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Thailand and Pakistan all contribute very little overall. A new strategy would see Fiat concentrate on the largest emerging markets where the company is involved, Brazil, India, Turkey and China. Meanwhile the ailing company has received a €1.15 Billion cash injection from banks, loaned against its 24.6% stake in Italian energy giant Italenergia. Fiat has the option to buy the stake back in 2005 otherwise Electricite de France has guaranteed to buy it. Fiat CEO Paolo Fresco met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi late last week and he is expected to announce a further round of job cuts during the course of the coming week. |
 Italdesign
have brought their stunning Brera prototype to the Paris Motor Show and
it takes pride of place, mounted on a revolving turntable on their stand.
This Alfa Romeo-badged fully working prototype 2+2 "Grand Tourer", mostly based around the Maserati Coupe's floorpan and mechanicals made its debut earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show to widespread acclaim. Unfortunately Alfa Romeo have in the meantime announced that this concept will not see production and it is destined to remain a show car. |
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| Ferrari's 600bhp V12 supercar has received its official launch in Paris. With two Enzo's on display, a black and a red one, the unveiling for a car already widely seen was somewhat low key. Ferrari-Maserati Group President Luca di Montezemolo gave a short speech infront of the black car which was somewhat sunk down in the stand. Also present on the stand alongside examples from the road car range is the F2002 which carried Michael Schumacher to victory in this years F1 World Championship. | ||
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| The mood on the Maserati
stand is upbeat. With the Coupe and Spyder proving a sales success and
impressing visitors to the show all week, pride of place went to the Maserati
Trofeo race car which made its public debut here.
Six Maseratis are being shown on the stand arranged in Trident formation. Two Coupes and two Spyders in GT and Cambiocorsa specifications one each in metallic maroon and metallic blue make up Maserati's road going range. These four lead towards the Trofeo car which appears in white with two blue stripes running full length and is positioned as the thrusting tip of the Trident at the most attention grabbing point of the stand. Complimenting them at the top of the display sits the famous Tipo 151 race car which brought many victories to the marque in its past. |
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