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Fiat 500 Beach Cruiser Concept Unveiled Ahead of SEMA Show Debut

About a month ago, the Chrysler Group announced plans to display more than 20 Mopar-prepped Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat and SRT brand concept vehicles and project cars at the 2012 SEMA aftermarket show, which takes place from October 30 through November 2 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Today, we get our first glimpse of one of those models and in particular, the Fiat 500 Beach Cruiser that was revealed during a special event at Mopar’s Accessory and Performance Lab in Michigan.

VW’s Chairman Ferdinand Piech and Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, two of the European automotive industry’s most prominent executives, have presumably read Sun Tzu’s Art of War and are aware of this excerpt:

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

The two groups are currently involved, if not in war, then certainly in a peculiar game of strategy and tactics – and there is no way of knowing who will come up trumps.

If anything, Sergio Marchionne is a man who speaks his mind – a bit too often, some might say. Still, the CEO of the Fiat-Chrysler group is deeply concerned about the drop in European car sales and he thinks something should be done about it.

Marchionne, who is also the head of ACEA, the European auto manufacturers’ association, is strongly endorsing the idea that there should be a European Union-led coordinated strategy if the industry is to survive.

“I am concerned that if we don’t find a collective will to resolve this at a European level, it is going to become a permanent crisis”, he said on Wednesday, October 10.

In 1998, a 32-year old Etonian named David Cameron, who at the time, worked for the Conservative Research Department, bought a 1971 Fiat 500 L as a surprise birthday gift for his wife, Samantha.

Fast forward 12 years to 2010 and said Brit assumes the office of British Prime Minister. The classic Cinquecento had been sold to a new owner 10 years after the Camerons acquired it, having covered a mere 1,000 miles in it.

It’s not the best of times to be a Chrysler-Fiat executive, never mind the group's CEO. Sales keep falling due to the European crisis, your Italian factories are operating at less than 50 percent of their capacity and you have postponed the long-awaited return of Alfa Romeo to the U.S. market more times than even you can recall.

At the same time, the local government and workers’ unions are, understandably, pressuring you to keep your factories operational.

Nevertheless, Sergio Marchionne isn’t willing to give up so easily. In fact, he has already met with the Italian PM and assured him that even though he won't implement the €20 billion (US$26 billion) investment plan that he announced last year, he won’t close any plants either.

It’s been about four months since Fiat and Mazda announced that they would share the next generation’s MX-5/Miata platform. Each company would develop its own version of the rear-wheel drive roadster, using its own powertrains and distinctive design.

After the announcement, Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne said that he is open to discussions for a much deeper collaboration with the Hiroshima-based manufacturer, as his company “will continue to look at bilateral arrangements”.

Only a few days later, Fiat Chairman John Elkann said the Italian carmaker has no plans to buy a stake in Mazda during a shareholders meeting.

The big news for Fiat at the 2012 Mondial de l'Automobile was the world premiere of three new additions to the Panda range, namely the 4x4, Trekking and Natural Power models.

And they weren't along as the cars were joined at the presentation by Miss Italia 2012, 19-year old Giusy Buscemi from Sicily. In case you wondering why, Fiat happens to be one of the official sponsors of the Miss Italia pageant with the latest generation of the Panda being the official car of the event.

There is no other better place in the world for Chrysler's official tuning arm Mopar to display its goods than the automotive aftermarket bonanza that is the annual SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

At this year's event, which runs from October 30 to November 2, the company plans to bring more than 20 new Moparized Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat and SRT vehicles.

As expected after last week’s announcement, on Saturday, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti met with Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne and the company's Chairman and heir to the Agnelli family empire, John Elkann, to discuss the automaker’s future in the country.

The meeting was arranged after rumors surfaced that Fiat, which is expected to lose around €700 million (US$904.5 million) this year due to a sales slump in the European market, is considering closing some of its plants and moving production out of Italy.

The Fiat 500 is beloved subject for many professional and amateur designers to express their creativity and skills. The 500 concept studies bundled under the Bellavista moniker that you see pictured here are the work of the students from the Polytechnic of Milan and Madeindreams.

The students developed two similar prototypes based on the Abarth 500. The first is a two-seater roadster model with a regular windshield, beefed up wheel arches, a double canopy behind the headrests and re-styled front and rear bumpers.

On Tuesday, two days after two government ministers asked Fiat to clarify its plans, the Italian government announced Prime Minister Mario Monti would meet with Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne on Saturday, September 22, to talk about the company’s “strategic prospects”.

Given that the Fiat Group is the country’s biggest company, the rumors about shutting down some of its Italian plants have caused a lot of concern.

The Fiat Group is once again upping the customization game for its Abarth brand with the launch of the new "Fuori Serie" programme at the Paris Motor Show later this month.

"With the 'Fuori Serie' programme, customers will have the chance to talk personally with the manufacturer to have their Abarths customized down to the smallest detail by a team of specialized Abarth designers, engineers and mechanics," Fiat said in a statement.

Three days before the expiration of the ultimatum that the Canadian Auto workers’ union (CAW) has issued to GM, Ford and Chrysler, the union has made some concessions over the new contract in order to avert a simultaneous strike at all three carmakers' Canadian plants as it has threatened.

The CAW is proposing a lower starting wage for newly hired workers and a longer time for them to reach the top of the pay scale. Moreover, unlike current workers, new employees will contribute to their pensions but will still be entitled to a defined-benefit, not a defined-contribution pension.

The Fiat 500 range may be growing up in size and maturing in character with the new 500L minivan, but the Italian company has given the first commercial for the small MPV a very youthful feel.

Set to air in Europe on September 16, the TV spot reveals the five-door 500L through the eyes of a child and with the help of picturesque special effects.

Fiat's boxy Doblo Cargo van is welcoming a new addition to its range in Britain in the form of the XL model, which follows the Doblo Work Up launched last year.

The new Doblo XL is based on the long wheelbase version adding a higher roof to the mix for a total load volume of 5.0 m³ and a payload of 1,000kg or 2,205 lbs.

For the umpteenth time, Alfa Romeo’s planned reentry in the US market has been put on the table. In October, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne will reveal a new schedule for Alfa’s upcoming models and the brands overseas expansion, which means yet another delay.

Last year, Marchionne revealed the company's new business plan and said that Alfa would return to the States in late 2012 with a small number of its 4C mid-engined coupe. The full-on assault in the US market would begin in mid-2013 with the launch of a compact crossover and at the end of the year, the new Giulia executive saloon.

There is a new small crossover in town and it's named the 2013 Fiat Panda 4x4. It was revealed today ahead of a world premiere at forthcoming international Paris Motor Show in late September.

Billed as the only four-wheel drive car in the A-segment, the Panda 4x4 is the latest generation of a model series that spans back almost 30 years.

Based on the regular five-door Panda tall hatchback, the 4x4 is 3,680mm long, 1,670mm wide and 1,600mm tall. It rides on a 2,300mm wheelbase and has a front track of 1,410mm and a rear track of 1,400mm.

If there's something the Fiat brand knows all too well is that new trim editions can help stir some attention and boost sales.

Joining a long line of special versions of its retro-penned city car is the new 500 Street for the UK market, which can be identified on the outside by dark tinted windows and alloy wheels (with red surrounds for the center caps) and satin chrome finished mouldings, handles and door mirrors.

Think that BMW North America's move to offer one-day-only heavy discounts on July 31 just to get one over Mercedes-Benz is the only act of questionable ethics in the business these days? Well, you had better reconsider, as things seem to be much worse in Germany.

Yes, you read correctly, Germany - the country that is supposedly immune to the financial crisis that is threatening the rest of the Eurozone and its very existence.

The numbers provided by the ACEA, the European automotive industry association, show that in the first half of the year the German car market grew 0.7 percent.

Chrysler announced today that the union workers of its Dundee engine plant in Michigan rejected the carmaker’s proposed new contract. However, despite the spat with the employees, Chrysler spokesperson Jodi Tinson said that production will continue. Read more »

siesta passionevera

Fiat 500 Beach Cruiser Concept Unveiled Ahead of SEMA Show Debut

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New Fiat Panda 4x4 and 'Giusy' Miss Italia 2012 Hit the Paris Auto Show Catwalk [w/Videos]

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Abarth Announces New "Fuori Serie" Customization Programme, Presents 131 Mirafirori Livery for 500

CAW Makes Some Concessions Over New Contract with Detroit 3, Carmakers Still Undecided

Sneak Preview of Fiat's Lighthearted Commercial for the New 500L Minivan

Fiat Expands Doblo Cargo Van Range with New XL Version in the UK

Alfa Romeo’s Return to the U.S. Postponed Again as Marrchione Changes Original Schedule

Fiat Unveils Tougher Looking 2013 Panda 4x4 Crossover In Advance of the Paris Auto Show

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Chrysler’s Dundee Engine Plant Workers Reject New Contract, Production Not Affected

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