This week, the idea of Brazil’s cars being “unsafe” due to inferior construction has been gaining a lot of currency on the blogosphere after the Associated Press published a report on this topic. Very few outlets have anyone posted in Brazil to do any deeper digging, but TTAC does. Unfortunately, our man Marcelo de Vasconcellos is currently in exams right now (good luck, Senhor!) and was unable to write up an article refuting these claims. Still, Marcelo took the time out to talk to TTAC about the problems behind the article.

The various articles floating around the web allege that Brazilian cars are doomed to be “unsafe” due to poor workmanship, excessive cost-cutting and poor grades of steel. Marcelo was able to speak to people at Fiat Brazil, as well as some engineering professors, and found out that the truth is that road fatalities are up, but not for the reasons people think they are.

A report by the Associated Press cites electricty savings on welding and shoddy workmanship as a key culprit behind the poor crash safety of Brazil’s cars

“If you save on electricity, you save on cost. One way to save electricity is either reducing the number of spot welds or using less energy for each spot weld made. This affects structural performance in the event of a crash.”

Marcelo asserts that since most of the cars sold in Brazil are unibody subcompacts, this argument holds little weight. Welds are done via robot, and the process is highly standardized, with little variation. Furthermore, many Brazilian made cars are exported. Fiats are sent back to Italy, while Volkswagens are exported to Argentina, the Middle East, Russia and other locations. Any cars sold in Europe must meet strict Euro NCAP standards, and the European magazines publish the results in great detail.

Brazilian steel is also blamed due to its apparently poor quality. Marcelo asserts this is false as well. Brazil’s iron ore is a sought after commodity on the world market as well (especially in places like Australia and Brazil), and Brazil is home to ValeInco, one of the world’s leading steel producers. This is far from the Eastern European sheetmetal that was notorious for causing Fiats to rust within minutes of coming into contact with road salt. We are dealing with a globally marketed commodity that must be competitive.

Marcelo instead places the blame on the increasing number of cars on the road, piloted by first-time drivers on poorly maintained road infastructure

The professor [Marcelo's friend who is an engineering professor] also commented that while the article showed an increase of 70% in fatalities (I think that’s what the article said, I have not read it) it did not say that the market has grown more than 150% over the last 15 years. Many, many of these buyers are first time drivers. Due to credit, many people don’t have the money to buy a used car (still more expensive here than in America) but they do have credit to buy said car in 60 months.

So, first time buyer, many times the first car in the family, many times young people, a disaster is waiting to happen. The other ingredient is of course the government. Badly maintained roads, almost no police presence on streets – an over-reliance on radars, just recently a crack down on drunk driving (the limit in Brazil is now 0, yes zero), lack of signs, roads designed and engineered and built in the 60s. Plus traffic conditions lots and lots of very old, decrepit really, buses and trucks…

Of course small cars are involved in more accidents. 70% of the market in Brazil is Palio, Uno, Gol, Fox, Celta, Classic, Sandero, Logan, 208, Ka, Fiesta and derivatives. All considered subcompacts in America. Of course they are in the majority of accidents. Of course most people get killed or maimed in them. A Gol sells 30k a month, a Corolla is lucky to get 3k…

As far as crash testing goes, Marcelo admits that Brazil does have a long way to go with both crash testing standards and mandatory safety features, but notes that the country is improving.

For you to have an idea, a Renault Sandero recently crash tested did better than a Chinese JAC 3. Detail: the Sandero was not equipped with airbags or ABS and the JAC was. Brazilian built Corollas got the same results as American Corollas. Now, airbags and ABS become mandatory next year. Look for Brazilian cars to then get the same results as their first world brethren. Take an American Fusion, strip it of its airbags and it’ll get the same 1, 2 or 3 stars Brazilian cars have been getting in such tests.

Brazilian cars are sort of middle of the road. They are not deathtraps but they are not first world because they don’t have lots of active safety systems. But they do have a lot of passive systems, collapsible steering wheel columns, collapsible brake peddles, fuel cut off systems in case of accidents, crumple zones, 3 point seat belts, they are all there.

While it would be irresponsible to ignore the AP’s report out of hand, it’s worth highlighting some of the non-car related factors in Marcelo’s interview. The lack of any drunk driving regulations, the substantial amount of inexperienced drivers on poorly maintained roads with scant traffic laws and the lack of any real enforcement of the rules of the road is clearly a recipe for disaster. Whether these locally-built subcompacts are in fact death traps is another debate that I’m not comfortable wading into.

One point that nobody has raised yet is the obscene prices that Brazilian consumers pay for cars. Often times they are 2-3 times more expensive than in America. Brazilian consumers could potentially be driving inferior cars and paying through the nose for them.

Despite sales of the Fiat 500 picking up, Fiat dealers are getting antsy for new product, with some showrooms struggling to turn a profit based on sales of the subcompact alone.

Reuters reports that dealers have been given the runaround about future product – including everyone’s favorite phantom marque, Alfa Romeo. Fiat has twice postponed a meeting to discuss these matters, and no future date has been set.

But dealers are feeling the stress of having to market a small, subcompact car in a market that has traditionally been less than receptive to these products. Gary Brown, chairman of the Chrysler dealer council and the owner of a Fiat store on Long Island, described his sentiments

“I’m struggling to break even…With the one car in a small (volume) segment, it’s a tough go right now. The real key is rolling out new product, additional offerings,” said Brown. “The four-door (500L) is really going to be a shot in the arm. It will put a franchise on more people’s radar as they are shopping for a small car.”

Fiat’s sales are up slightly in 2013, growing along with the rest of the market. The brand has managed to reach the milestone of 40,000 vehicles annually, something that took rival brand Mini twice as long. But the constant delays and backtracking around product, especially Alfa Romeo’s return to America beyond the pricey 4C sports car is an obvious source of frustration to a dealer body that has  committed to significant investment on the promise of a range of new cars from both Fiat and Alfa.

While we wait on the latest round of registration data from Europe (April 2013), a look at January-March 2013 data paints a bleak picture for Alfa Romeo.

Having moved 17,545 cars across 29 countries in that period, Alfa is being beaten by such storied nameplates as Mitsubishi, Smart and even struggling, Lancia/Chrysler. SEAT, VW’s ailing brand which gets its share of criticism for having no direction or identity, is crushing Alfa, having sold just under 70,000 units so far.

For such a strong brand, Alfa’s lineup is dismal, consisting of just two dated compact hatchbacks. New product cannot come soon enough. The 4C is a halo car, but Alfa is one brand that really doesn’t need anything to further boost its image. What it does need are mainstream products that are competitive with the Golfs, Mondeos and other mainstream nameplates across the world. Hopefully we’ll see something soon.

Last week there was a 2003 Toyota Tacoma with 430,000 miles on it.

I thought to myself, “Well this isn’t news. The quartet of GM/Ford trucks, Honda Cars, and Toyota everything is still cleaning up the charts. I won’t write about it this time”. So I waited…

This week the mileage champion out of 6,945 vehicles was a 1999 Toyota 4Runner with 344,400 miles. The enthusiasts among us are probably a bit Toyonda Chevorded out at this point. So this time, let’s focus on longevity.

This 1975 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham was once owned by Kermit the Frog. It was later purchased by the guy who invented Nickelodeon’s world famous slime and has most recently been on the set of the Incredible Hulk movie. Sad to say, the scene where it was scheduled to be destroyed was cut due to a protest engineered by our own TTAC alum Paul Niedermeyer.

So now it sits with 32,973 miles.

Old Caddies are rarely a surprise at the auctions. What did surprise me this time?

Try two 1977 MGB Roadsters available at the same auction. The miles are 47,959 and 49,048 respectively. Two more garage queens. These happened to reside in Nashville, Tennessee, Elvis country, where the rust is minimal, and the classiness of car decor is often somewhere between decals that portray the act of urinating and world famous truck testicles.

These sheepskin covers aren’t so bad. In fact, I think they would be the perfect fit for the marque that finished fourth and fifth on the longevity list.

These were followed by two Mercedes diesels. The second of which was a daily driver that displayed an impressive 308,052 miles. This is doubly impressive since old Mercedes odometer clusters have a tendency to give out at a certain point. I wouldn’t be surprised if this daily driver had more mileage than the Toyota 4Runner.

Finally, we have another surprise. A 1982 Fiat spider. Just showing the picture of this model with 137,939 miles would not do it justice. So I have arranged for a Youtube video to accompany your Monday morning.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The seats for this model were protected in a more conventional way than the MG twins.

There you have it. The six elder statesmen out of 6,985 vehicles. All of them still run… or at least limp along the road with loose bladders.

The next example of the Fiat 500 range, the rather literally named Fiat 500XL, has revealed itself via a leaked photo. It looks a bit like a Fiat 500L that’s all swollen via anaphylaxis. The 500XL may not even make it to North America, but that’s ok. We’ll take the Panda instead. Apparently, the 500XL will have a third row of seats and grow to nearly 170 inches long, making it just barely acceptable for North American tastes. No doubt it will do well in Europe, which is currently in the throes of crossover fever.

Fiat could be close to raising the cash needed to buy the rest of Chrysler, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters. Apparently, the money will not come from a sale of Alfa to italophile Volkswagen, as previously surmised, but from banks. But knowing banks, they probably won’t simply move the $4 billion across the counter. These days, they often just find a willing buyer for a hefty fee …  

The talks with the banks are expected to conclude next month, and should lead to raising the money needed to buy the 41.5 percent of Chrysler which are held by VEBA, the United Auto Workers’ retirees’ healthcare trust.

Marchionne wants to merge Fiat and Chrysler to use Chrysler’s cash to offset Fiat’s losses. This sounds very familiar to the old DaimlerChrysler lore, usually told with a “merger of equals” tossed in to sound witty. Amazingly, this is yet to be brought up. Perhaps this is because this time, the UAW will be the recipient of the cash. Once they have it, the sermon of “they just drained Chrysler’s cash” can commence anew.

Despite overwhelmingly positive press for the Fiat 500e, the electric Fiat is known to be a bete-noir for Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. Speaking at the SAE Congress last week, Marchionne claimed that Fiat loses $10,000 on each 500e, describing it as “masochism”.

Marchionne has repeatedly stated that Fiat is only building the car to comply with California regulations that mandate the sale of zero-emissions vehicles. But despite rave reviews and an aggressive lease program, Marchionne has repeatedly made negative statements about the car. The Detroit Free Press quotes Marchionne on the nature of the money losing EV

“For every 500 electric that we produce even after all the subsidies we will lose about $10,000 bucks a car,” Marchionne said. “Doing that on a large scale would be masochism to the extreme.”

Machionne also urged governments to stay “neutral” on what technologies it decides to subsidize, citing the current trendiness of EVs versus the widespread enthusiasm for hydrogen a decade ago.

“A number of governments around the world including the U.S. have provided incentives for consumers to purchase plug-in electric vehicles and have provided direct incentives to manufacturers…my fear is that regulators are rushing precipitously into embracing electric vehicles as the only technological solution.”

California consumers interested in a Fiat 500e will be getting a sweetheart deal from Fiat; a $199 lease for 36 months with a $999 down payment.

At retail, the car will cost $32,500 plus a $7,500 tax credit. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, customers who lease won’t be able to collect the tax credit.

Those leasing the car can also get a special $2,500 rebate that California offers for electric cars, which will cover the down payment and about six lease payments.

Fiat’s move is an agressive one. Nissan recently cut the base price of the Leaf  to$28,800, or $6,400 less than it was in 2012. Nissan also offers 36-month lease deal of $199 a month and a $1,999 down payment. But the Leaf is sold nationwide, unlike the 500e, which is limited to California only. The reason for this is economic. Fiat stands to lose money on every single 500e, and is only selling the car to comply with California emissions standards. Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has gone on record with his displeasure over the 500e’s money-losing nature, telling Automotive News

“I will try to sell the required numbers for me to optimize compliance with the emission standards and not one more.”

News of former Ram divsion head Fred Diaz defecting to Nissan has sparked a hiring shuffle over at Chrysler. Reuters is reporting that former Dodge chief Reid Bigland will be moving over to head up Ram, while Tim Kuniskis will move from Fiat to replace Bigland at Dodge. Jason Stoicevich takes over from Kuniskis at Fiat.

Diaz’s departure from Ram as well as his post of Chrysler’s Mexican operations was a shock to many, but it also indicates how serious Nissan is at making a run at full-size truck supremacy, something that Toyota has failed to do with the Tundra. Under Diaz, the Ram 1500 went from an also-ran to a seriously competitive, if not class leading truck. A few years go, Nissan and Chrysler were in the midst of trying to jointly develop a full-size truck, but the bailout and Chrysler’s eventual takeover by Fiat ended up scuttling those plans. Now it seems that Nissan has decided to just poach the brains behind Ram, rather than the technology itself.

Back in December, TTAC was invited to a very secret presentation somewhere in Michigan, where an assembled crowd of journalists was shown the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. At the time, the car didn’t even have a name. It was called the “KL”. TTAC was shown the base car (shown in the photos) and an upcoming variant that you’ll see next week. When the sheet was pulled back, the murmuring and and hushed chatter that permeated the room immediately ceased. Nobody knew what to make of this new crossover.

It turns out that the odd design, not to mention the proliferation of engineering mules wearing Alfa Romeo body work, has a reason behind it. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Cherokee was originally an Alfa Romeo CUV before it became a Jeep.

The 2014 Jeep Cherokee, which makes its debut Wednesday at the New York Auto Show, is based on a design first developed for Fiat’s Alfa Romeo—a sharing intended to spare Chrysler hundreds of millions of dollars in engineering costs and shorten the time it takes to get new vehicles to market.

Aside from the cost savings, the move makes sense from a marketing standpoint. The Jeep brand is strong all over the world, and a compact crossover like the Cherokee is a great way to expand the brand in markets where a traditional SUV would be a poor fit. In addition, Alfa’s move to sportier and more luxurious cars (not to mention its precarious future on the whole) meant that the KL project would have more success over at Jeep, not to mention help further focus Alfa’s product message.

Even though reaction has been mixed, I’m optimistic about the Cherokee. The Alfa DNA in the CUSW platform is evident in the Dodge Dart, and the compact crossover segment is so damn competitive than fielding anything less than an excellent product would be a fatal mistake for Chrysler. Based on the Dart, the Ram 1500 and the Grand Cherokee, it appears that Chrysler is cognizant of this.

The latest member of the fast-growing “European small crossover club” will likely be the Fiat Panda, which will get a model that will grow in size, to compete against C-Segment SUVs.

The Panda crossover would fight a battle on two fronts, taking on the wildly popular Nissan Qashqai and the Skoda Yeti in the mainstream arena while also going after premium models like the Audi X1 and Audi Q3. The current Panda range, which includes an all-wheel drive version with faux-rugged cladding and a higher ride height, has won critical acclaim from European motoring journalists. The previous generation Panda 100 hot hatchback has been praised as one of the most fun drives at any price, and a new version will also join the range to enhance the range’s sporting credentials.

But the larger, crossover-style Panda will play an important role for ailing Fiat, along with the 500X crossover, which is somewhat larger than the standard 500. The 500 and the Panda will be the focal point of Fiat’s branding, as the Panda and 500 are judged to have the deepest emotional attachment with consumers. But contrary to popular reports, other model lines like the Punto, Bravo and Freemont aren’t going anywhere. All new versions are set to debut in 2015 to complement the 500 and Panda.

“It may require a miracle to pull off the Fiat chief’s latest gambit,” Reuters writes. To get Fiat out of its rut, Sergio Marchionne has a risky plan: “Take his sporty Alfa Romeo brand global with more expensive models and triple its sales volume by 2016 – after years of losses.”

That plan, says Reuters, “represents Fiat’s only real hope of combating a collapse in its home market and breathing new life into idled factories.” What if it turns out as a bust? “Should it fail, and the new cars flop, the company that Italians view as a cornerstone of their economy will have little choice but to put thousands of employees out of work and tip entire communities into turmoil.”

Reuters and analysts are shaking their heads:

• The new Alfas will be built in Italy, where labor and material costs are far higher than in the United States, Asia or Eastern Europe.
• “Get it wrong, or find consumers aren’t interested, and it will be a financial catastrophe,” says Bernstein analyst Max Warburton.
• Barclays Capital: “It’s not the first time we have heard an ambitious volume plan for Alfa, Volumes were supposed to be 400,000 in 2014 rather than the 70,000 that seems likely.”
• LMC senior analyst Joseph Langley: “Alfa is going to have a fight on its hands in luring luxury buyers into its vehicles, Charging a premium and leaning on heritage is not enough in the highly competitive luxury segments, as Cadillac and Lincoln have experienced.”

Most harebrained ideas are hatched under the influence This was no different. A thousand miles removed from Canada’s largest city, two freelance automotive writers were guzzling beer and bandying about ideas for potential stories. Most of the concepts were actually elaborate ruses designed solely for gaining access to OEM press fleets.

“Let’s drive to Toronto!” Mark heartily suggested. “It’s only, what, a thousand miles?”

“That’s sixteen hundred kilometers, in Queen’s English,” I corrected him. “Why? For what purpose?”

“Well, the Canadian International Auto Show is in February. Let’s crash that party.” White out!

Perfect. Smartphones were synced. Billfolds were audited. A plan was put into action. Deciding to go was the easy part; now we had to figure out how to get there. Clearly, driving would be the preferred method, given that we both write about cars. For me, a personal rule is that if I can drive to a destination with minimal fuss and aggravation, I will do so rather than suffer the anguish of thundering through the atmosphere in a poorly ventilated jet-engined cigar with wings.

Several OEMs were approached and the idea was pitched that two Large Persons driving a thousand miles to Toronto in the dead of winter would make for a great story. Two manufacturers grabbed hold of the concept – Mazda provided an MX-5 and Chrysler ponied up a Fiat 500 Turbo. Shod with winter tires, having a couple of sport compacts out of their natural elements promised to be entertaining.

Little did we know just how entertaining. Setting off at promptly 9:48am from far flung Truro, Nova Scotia, spirits ran high. The sun blazed, crystallizing the record snowfall from a major snowstorm that had dumped a foot of snow the day previous. As we vacated town, the hills rang with snow-blowers, and the occasional mating call of a rare species, the Snowplowus Interruptus.

We were in northern New Brunswick, about seven hours on the road, when the snow was back, to strike hard and fast. With little daylight remaining, we exited the highway, trundling to a halt at a little used coffee shop that smelled like pee. Eschewing their blackened offerings, we weighed our options. The snow was falling at an apocalyptic rate. Even a military convoy ahead of us had sought shelter at a nearby, downtrodden motel.

“I’d rather get a kick in the nuts than drive in the dark in this shit,” I blustered aloud while beating two inches of ice off the little Fiat’s wiper blades.

Taking a long drag on his cigarette, Mark flatly suggested that we at least make a run for the Quebec border, some 200km distant. Knowing full well that once I had the chance to curse the weather and refill the windshield washer fluid tank on the Fiat, I’d be game to continue the drive. He was right. We reentered the divided highway full of gusto, verve, and fuel.

“The little red-headed Italian likes to wiggle her hips,” I tersely reported over the two-way radio. Hardly the car’s fault, this. In fact, the snow was so deep that the front bumper of the MX-5 often acted as the most rudimentary of plows, biffing fluffy white powder up in the air and back over its bonnet. Snow was a good six inches deep on the road surface.

In the Fiat, the windshield washer fluid reservoir continued to stick in my craw, running dry at what seemed to be three second intervals. Memo to Fiat: please, please increase the windshield wash capacity. At a mere two litres, all it takes is for a few trucks to roar by the 500 Turbo to deplete its meagre allotment of blue liquid. At minimum, add a LOW WASHER FLUID idiot light to the cinnamon bun of a gauge cluster. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Fiat driver’s seat was astonishingly comfortable for this six and a half foot author.

Trucks rocketed past in the fast lane, secured by the weight of their 52 foot heavy trailers. With visibility near zero, I went on ahead in the Fiat, hazards blaring. I figured that if I illuminated the car, my chances of being found when I eventually deposited myself into a crusty roadside snowbank would rise from None to Slim.

It was during this leg of the journey that I dubbed the whole event the First Annual White Knuckle Challenge.

But you know what? The sojourn into the snowbank that seemed so inevitable simply didn’t happen. Not only did we forge through to the Quebec border, we made it all the way to our planned stop at a hotel which had been booked several days prior. It was a solid thirteen hours after setting out from Truro that morning and I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

For two cars that are usually approached in winter with the same caution as one would approach a lump of plutonium that has suddenly appeared in the lettuce crisper, the 500 Turbo and MX-5 were totally and superbly competent machines. Cars are like sex: with the correct rubber on, they can go anywhere.

The next morning brought more snow covered roads and much appreciated daylight. Precipitation and perspiration ceased about an hour after we left the hotel, and we approached the froggy delights of Montreal with élan. Pausing for some photos at the base of a picturesque mountain in a random megabucks suburb, the two sport compacts suddenly looked like the entirely right choices for this journey. At that moment, I couldn’t have imagined driving anything else. Onwards, then.

Montreal drivers frequently displayed a dangerous mixture of apathy and aggression, prompting banzai lane changes and the occasional furrowed brow. In fifth gear, the Fiat’s turbo lag is best measured with a calendar, forcing one to row their way through fourth and even third gear in order to keep the 1.4L on full boil while maintaining flank speed in heavy traffic.

Navigating the busiest highway in North America, we wound our way to our hotel in downtown Toronto. Arriving in the dark, I reflected on how damn well these two cars performed, completely out of their element. The Fiat even returned good fuel economy, 7.2L/100km. That’s 40mpg , as close as makes no difference. On snow tires. In rough conditions. Win.

At the base of CN Tower, high fives were exchanged. We made it in one piece, even though the brown pants factor was high on occasion. That evening, more alcohol was consumed and more plans were hatched. What kind, you ask? Let’s just say it involves a couple of full-sized trucks and some precision driving. VTEC just kicked in, yo!

For this journey, Mazda provided an insured MX-5 while Chrysler provided an insured Fiat 500 Turbo, both with clutch pedals. Save the Manuals!

]]> http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/first-annual-white-knuckle-challenge/feed/ 45 http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/lumina-apv-redux-fiat-500l/ http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2013/02/lumina-apv-redux-fiat-500l/#comments Wed, 20 Feb 2013 15:40:07 +0000 Matthew Guy http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=478217  

Our own Alex L. Dykes postulated that the 500L is what happens when Fiat stays in America for awhile – and he’s right. The feature that stuck out immediately are the massive side windows between the front doors and the windshield, looking for all the world like that area of the original GM Dustbuster minivans.

Unlike at the Chicago show, the doors of this 500L were open, revealing an interior that will be familiar to current Fiat 500 owners … but on a +1 level. The gauges are certainly more comprehensive than those in the regular 500 and the centre stack incorporates a screen seemingly intended for nav and entertainment. Neither pricing nor engines were discussed – here’s hoping that reports of the 1.4L staying in the 500 are true and the 500L is powered by the rip-snortin’ Abarth engine.

Are you a Fiat dealer looking for an Alfa Romeo franchise? Well, better hope you’re doing solid volumes and are making your customers happy.

Automotive News caught up with Peter Grady, Chrysler’s VP of Network Development and Fleet, at the NADA conference in Orlando. Grady was candid about what it will take for Fiat stores to get an Alfa Romeo franchise, specifically, the upcoming 4C sports car that wll relaunch the brand in America

“The 4C is the first vehicle that comes at the end of this calendar year, and it’s going to go to the current Fiat dealers that are performing…So if you’re selling and you’re taking care of your customer, you’ll be first up for Alfa Romeo.”

One sticking point is the lack of service outlets at certain Fiat showrooms located in malls and other unconventional locations. Because, well…the joke about Alfas and service bays tend to write themselves, don’t they. Since the 4C will be the sole Alfa product until 2015, Chrysler will apparently give dealers a pass on building service centers right now, but they must be ready for the 2015 full-line roll out.

The next generation Fiat 500 will no longer be hecho en Mexico for the North American market. Faced with a modern plant and unused capacity, Fiat will consolidate all of its 500 production to its site in Tychy, Poland, in 2015. So what does this mean for Mexico?

The move may have as much to do with Fiat’s underutilized capacity as it does with Chrysler’s current capacity crunch. Pentastar plants are running at full steam, and the facility in Toluca, Mexico will likely be converted into a plant to build Chrysler products for the North American market. Toluca currently builds the 500 and the Dodge Journey crossover. Interestingly, Marchionne has claimed in the past that unused European capacity could be used to meet North American demand for Chrysler products. If the idea of a Mexican made car scares you, just wait until you get your hands on a Caravan made in the same factory as an Alfa Romeo…

A Turkish affiliate of Fiat had disclosed plans to import the Doblo as a Ram van, to compete with the Ford Transit Connect. Automotive News Europe reported that exports would begin in 2014 with expected volumes of around 20,000 units per year.

The Doblo van will be built by Tofas, a Turkish JV between Fiat and Koc Holdings. Tofas will also build two new compacts, which replace the Fiat Linea, though the Doblo will be important for Tofas as it seeks to diversify its exports beyond the slumping European market. The Transit Connect is also built in Turkey, though Ford is transferring production to Spain in the near future.

Since 2008, there has been significant growth in the commercial van sector, with European-derived product replacing the rear-drive, V8 vans previously offered by Detroit. But while Chrysler and Ford have been matching one another tit for tat with European commercial vans, GM has so far persisted in retaining the Savanna and Express full-size vans.

Alfa Romeo will outsell Fiat in the United States once the sporty brand gets a foothold in its new market, according to Peter Grady, head of network development for the Chrysler Group, in an interview Reuters.

After nearly 20 years of absence, Alfa is coming back to America in the 4C sports car, due to arrive late this year.

“We think that Alfa Romeo will have a little bit larger volume than Fiat will have,” Grady said.

Outselling Fiat is not much of a target. In 2012, Fiat sold 43,772 units in the U.S.

What happens when foreigners have been in America for a few years? They start getting fat like Americans. And so it is with the 2014 Fat 500L which has gained mass, two doors and a plumper overall visage. We found a red model strutting its chunky stuff at the back of the Chicago Auto Show For some reason we weren’t allowed inside, but we were able to caress it through the open windows.

Fiat kept referring to the 500L as some sort of MINI Clubman competitor, but I tend to think only shoppers of the Countryman CUV will be looking at the larger Fiat. On the outside the 500L looks slightly overinflated with suspicious looking bulges everywhere. The inside is a different story however with interior bits that put MINI to shame. Not that they are overly luxurious but MINI’s parts bin is a hard plastic wonderland.

Fiat says the 500L will be front wheel drive only for the moment, although the rumor mill indicates the platform has been designed with AWD in mind. The same 1.4L turbo engine from the 500 Abarth is found under the hood giving the baby crossover 160HP and 184lb-ft of twist. Also on board is a 6-speed manual or Fiat’s dual dry clutch transmission. Infotainment options are also taking a step in the right direction bringing Chrysler’s slick uConnect system to an optional 6.5-inch touch scree in the dash. I spent some time playing with the display system and it looks to be better in my opinion than MINI’s rendition of iDrive and light-years ahead of what’s in the current 500. So far, nobody is talking pricing.

Behold, the Citroen Jumper…err, the Fiat Ducato. Ok, it’s the Ram Promaster. Instead of the Mercedes-based Sprinter, this is the new commercial van from Chrysler. It can be equipped with a Pentastar V6 or a 3.0L diesel four-cylinder. It has two-piston Brembo brakes and, horror of horrors, it’s front-drive. I’m not sure that really makes a difference, but somebody will doubtlessly criticize Ram for importing a “wrong-wheel-drive” commercial van.

With the Fiat brand looking to move into the “premium small” space, where its 500 and Panda vehicles currently thrive, there will likely be an opportunity for a low-cost brand within the Fiat empire, and Sergio Marchionne is already investigating the possibility of a low-cost Fiat built outside of Europe, that would go head-to-head with Dacia and other similar products.

Unlike Renault-Nissan, Fiat cannot utilize any of its European capacity to build a car with an MSRP of 7,450 euros. Fiat is looking at facilities outside of Europe to see if building such a car is viable.  According to Automotive News, Fiat has previously looked at low-cost cars, but scuttled plans due to uncertainties regarding profitability. But Fiat’s new upmarket shift would likely necessitate lower-end cars to fill the entry-level void in Fiat’s lineup.

Speaking to TTAC at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show, Fiat sources clarified their future product direction (which, contrary to prior reports, would not involved paring the model lineup down the just the Panda and 500) and tacitly admitted that the low-cost segment was one in which Fiat may enter in the future

Remember all that hype about how a Detroit-area Jeep plant would be building the Maserati Levante SUV, for export back to Italy? Yeah, me either.

Nearly a year after announcing plans for the Levante to be built at Chrysler’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant, union scuttlebutt suggests that Fiat’s Mirafiori plant outside Turin to build Maserati and Alfa Romeo products.

According to Automotive News Europe, the Mirafiori plant, one of Fiat’s flagship plants, is currently operating for only a handful of days out of each month. Fiat is ostensibly hoping to use its idle capacity in Europe to help produce the Levante and other premium cars, while Jeep’s own plants in the United States crank out as many cars as possible to help satisfy domestic demand.

Even so, this would represent a stunning about-face for Marchionne and Chrysler/Fiat. The American-built Levante was highly touted as an example of what American manufacturing was capable of, as well as a symbol of transcontinental cooperation following the union of the two companies. But with union pressure in Italy heating up against a backdrop of tumbling sales and constantly idled plants, the decision to build the Maser SUV in Italy may have come easy to Marchionne, even at the expense of a PR blowout in the United States.

As we all know, TTAC has an occasional thing for pink cars. So has Fiat. Right where I live.  Fiat delights Japan with the 500 Fiore Rosa (i.e. “Pink Flower”) limited edition of its Cinquecento.

A bit confusingly, only 150 of the pink babies will be available, only for a very short time and a very special occasion: For Valentines! The pinkies can only be bought from  February 14 through 17, yours for only for 2.2 million Yen ($23,600, incl tax.)  I already wanted to run out to buy Frau Schmitto-san hers, but she reminded me of two things:

She does not drive. And in Japan, the girls give the boys Valentine presents.

Did I mention that I love this country? I feel right at home, especially as it embarks on a flower power summer of love revisitation.

(Thank you, Gizmodiva, for the tip. However, it’s not $10,000, the yen has inched up a little.)

TTAC alum Justin Berkowitz hit the jackpot with Chrysler, managing to make sense of the umpteenth new product rollout they’ve announced since getting in bed with Fiat, and  posting the most accurate rendering of the new Jeep Liberty replacement (according to TTAC sources, it is dead on).

Apparently, Fiat will get five new models by 2015, though the brand has a habit of counting variants like the 500C and Abarth as separate models. Reports stated that Fiat is re-aligning their product range to include only variants of the 500 and Panda, however, our sources at Fiat scoffed at the notion during discussions with them at NAIAS. Apparently, eliminating all but two models would leave Fiat without the capability to produce enough volume globally. Fiat would also be left with even more excess capacity, and a lineup unsuited to markets in South America, where Fiat’s lineup is tailored to market conditions. What will apparently happen is that future models will take their cues from the 500 and Panda, though it’s hard to imagine how something like the Viaggio, a rebadged Dodge Dart, will do so. Playing the future product guessing game is too much of a crapshoot, but Fiat still has the Panda, Punto and Bravo in its stable. Who knows if this will even materialize. Previous reports suggested that an additional model, possibly the Punto or Panda, would come to Canada.

The other big story were the rash of delays; Alfa’s mainstream products won’t arrive until 2015, Jeep’s product onslaught is being staggered (new Liberty this year, Compass/Patroit next year, unnamed vehicle in 2015), as is Chrysler’s (new 200 in 2014, new 100 hatchback, new crossover and an unnamed model in 2015). Minivan plans seem to change by the hour, with nobody quite sure whether the Grand Caravan or Town & Country will be alive, dead, with sliding doors or turned into a crossover – it depends on the day. Dodge is now devoid of a new B-segment car and Avenger replacement. The mid-size Ram lifestyle pickup looks to be DOA, while a new Fiat-based large van will debut at Chicago.