FCA's 5-Year Plan: The Best of the Rest
Photo: Alfa Romeo
As you know, FCA unveiled its 5-year plan today. While we talked about the American side of Sergio's empire, there was also information about the Italian brands (Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Maserati and Ferrari).
Alfa Romeo
- The famous sports-car maker will go back to its roots with multiple new models in the coming years.
- The sub-compact MiTo will be replaced between 2016 and 2018.
- The Giulietta, another front-wheel drive car, will also be phased out in 3 or 4 years.
- Two new intermediate cars will arrive, one of them in 2015 and the other the following year.
- For the first time, there will be a full-size sedan in the Alfa Romeo lineup.
- There is also another sports car in the making. It is either a high-performance variant of the 4C, or a new 8C.
Fiat
There are few changes for Fiat North America:
- A new crossover, the 500X.
- The Mazda partnership that was supposed to produce the next Alfa Romeo Spider (and the Mazda MX-5) will be a Fiat, after all.
Maserati
The Maserati brand will retain its image of gracious luxury and performance.
- The GranTurismo and GranCabrio are phased out for 2014.
- The Levante SUV will arrive in 2015.
- The Alfieri Concept will be put into production in 2016, and a convertible version will be launched in 2017.
- The GranTurismo will come back in 2018, as a high-performance luxury coupe.
- New engines will be developed, such as a 520 HP V6, and a 560+ HP V8.
Ferrari
Sergio Marchionne himself is leading the prancing horse. Here, no major changes will occur. Why change a winning recipe? There will be a new model coming out each year, and the approximate life expectancy of a car is 8 years: 4 as the base model, and another four as an M version. (The 458 is a good example of this. The original came out in 2010, and in 2014, Ferrari unveiled the 458 Speciale).
