Alfa Romeo to Stay and Rebuild Under Fiat, Hopes to Move 500,000 Units by 2014

Fiat CEO Segio Marchionne has put the VW-Alfa Romeo rumors to rest...for now. Alfa will officially stay under its Italian parent's wing for at least a little while longer as Marchionne attempts to revive the ever-struggling Italian luxury automaker.

Alfa Romeo, as you may know, is not exactly pulling its weight; it is estimated that Fiat loses over $400 Million a year because of the upscale brand, which Marchionne says will have to move 300,000 units annually to earn money. For the record, Alfa is on pace for ~105,000 units this year, and Marchionne wants to hit 500,000 units by 2014 with the help of new models and the US market (possibly in 2012).

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IDECORE's Alfa Romeo Monza V8 Concept [with Video]

This is IDECORE's (an acronym for "ideas, concepts, relationships") Alfa Romeo Monza V8,a new digital concept in honor of the Italian firm's centennial celebration. IDECORE, which bills itself as "independent designers and modelers", sees this model as an Executive Sport 2+2 with a next-gen Multiair V8 driving the rear wheels.

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Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano Sport Wagon by Marco Procaccini

A few months back we showed you Marco Procaccini's Vittorio Jano design study for an Alfa Romeo 159 replacement (see here). The slinky fastback notably featured an aggressive front end treatment and a C-Column / rear glasshouse design somewhat reminiscent of the Lotus Evora.

Now Marco is back with a more practical Sport Wagon variant of the Vittorio Jano which -in theory- is 50 mm longer and 10 mm taller than its saloon sibling.

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Carscoop Interviews Yana Briggs, Designer of the 2022 Alfa Romeo Mode Concept Study

Though we'd all like to think we're pretty unbiased when it comes to gender roles in the workplace, there are still a few that manage to surprise us.

Take for example automotive designers. The list of male personas in the industry is almost endless: Harley Earl, Raymond Loewy, Ian Callum, Chris Bangle, Giorgetto Giugiaro... Now try and think of female car designers and you're unlikely to come up with even one name without Googling it.

While doing background research on a sleek design study called the 2022 Alfa Romeo Mode, Carscoop was surprised to discover that the designer behind the project was a woman. As a great number of ladies we speak to roll their eyes at the slightest mention of cars, we were determined to investigate.

What we discovered was designer Yana Briggs, who was kind enough to agree to do an interview with us. We ask Yana about herself, the challenges of working in a male dominated industry and her Alfa Romeo design study. Intrigued? Then follow the jump for the interview.

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Fiat Explains Under-The-Radar Paris Appearance, will Debut New Models in Late 2011

Fiat has addressed a question at least a few people were asking this year in Paris, explaining its lack of significant presence at this year's Paris Motor Show. According to CEO Sergio Marchionne, Fiat has been building up steam, waiting to release new product until late next year in order to better balance the brand's many companies' funds.

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Alfa Romeo at the Paris Show: New Engine Options for Giulietta and Pretty Much Nothing Else

Unless Alfa Romeo has a very big surprise up its sleeves (which we certainly hope so given that the brand is celebrating its 100th birthday this year...), the only new models capable of capturing our attention at the Milanese firm's Paris Motor Show booth will be the usual 'female fatales' standing alongside their automobiles.

According to the company's press release, "the stars" of the Alfa Romeo stand will be the brand-new 140 HP 2.0 JTDM and the 170 HP 1.4 MultiAir turbo petrol with "Alfa TCT" automatic transmission versions of the Giulietta.

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Truckload of Alfa Romeo Giuliettas Scooped in Michigan

According to Jalopnik, this here truck that's loaded with a bunch of Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatchbacks was scooped on a Michigan freeway heading towards the Chrysler Group's headquarters in Auburn Hills. Other than some vague statements and on-off promises, Fiat Group officials have not made any final announcements on the re-launch of the Alfa Romeo brand in the States. So unless the Italians are getting ready to surprise us, we'd say that these vehicles will most likely be used as press cars and/or for display purposes at dealer meetings and possibly even at upcoming motor shows.

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Volkswagen wants to pick up Alfa Romeo, executives either insane or brilliant

You'll notice that Volkswagen AG is driving directly into the oncoming traffic of convention when it comes to business practices. While other automakers are trying to shrug off - or outright kill - struggling brands, VW is just picking them up whenever it pleases. According to AutoNews, VW is still trying to pull Alfa Romeo out of Sergio Marchionne's grasp.

To clarify, adding Alfa to the lineup would potentially bring Volkswagen's carmaker portfolio to nine brands, including VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, Bugatti, and Porsche (as well as Karmann, Italdesign, VW LCV, a 20% chunk of Suzuki, the rights to NSU, and more).

In one VW executive's terms, Alfa Romeo is a "treasure...[with] sporty genes" that could potentially help Volkswagen's world domination (or "growth strategy"), provide a great image, and save money due to similar offerings' powertrains and layouts.

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Alfa Romeo MiTo Turismo Sport Edition Joins UK Lineup

A new trim level has been added to the UK range of the Alfa Romeo MiTo hatch. Named the Turismo Sport, this edition is all/just about colors and extra content. On top of the standard equipment found in the MiTo Turismo, the Sport edition adds new 16-icnh alloy wheels, a roof spoiler, cruise control, Blue & Me technology, fog lights and a leather steering wheel with audio and phone controls.

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Supercar Concepts from the Swansea Metropolitan University Degree Show

Automotive design students from UK's Swansea Metropolitan University tapped into the deepest wells of their imagination to create their final year projects and exhibit them at the 2010 Degree Show, which was held in July at the National Waterfront Museum in Swansea Marina. Thanks to the crew over from 'Car Body Design', we can show you some of the conceptual projects that were on display.

These include the Alfa Romeo Stradale 50, a mid-engined supercar said to combine the curvy lines of the 8C Competizione with the more angular detailing of the 159 and Brera; the Duesenberg 2100 that revives the iconic brand from Indiana with a futuristic take on the Art Deco theme; the exotic BMW Formula 1; the Ginetta G80 sports coupe and last but not least, the Aston Martin Viceroy. Follow the jump below for the photo gallery.

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Only for Japan: Alfa Romeo GT Quadrifoglio d'Oro Special Edition

As part of the year-long celebrations for the brand's 100th anniversary, Alfa Romeo has rolled out a special edition version of its GT compact coupe for the Japanese market. It's named "Quadrifoglio d'Oro", which literally translates to 'Golden Clover'. Alfa Romeo used this badge in the past to denote higher-grade versions of its cars.

In this case, the GT Quadrifoglio d'Oro comes with special gold badging, 18-inch five-spoke alloy wheels wrapped in beefier 225/40 tires, red brake calipers and chrome trim on the front bumper. Inside the cabin, Alfa Romeo has added several features to the equipment list including leather sports seats, aluminum sports pedals and sports dials with a red background, just to mention a few.

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Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano Design Study for a 159 Replacement

The Alfa Romeo Vittorio Jano concept sedan is the brainchild of independent Italian designer Marco Procaccini. Named after Vittorio Jano, an Italian race car designer of Hungarian descent that worked at Alfa Romeo from the 1920s through the 1930s, Procaccini's proposal is a sporty-looking saloon with a five-door fastback body style and seating for four.

Created as a direct replacement for Alfa Romeo's BMW 3-series-fighting 159 sedan, the Vittorio Jano measures 4,650mm in length, 1,830mm in width and 1,400mm in height. The designer said he plans to follow up the sedan with a Sport Wagon study. Gallery and video after the jump.

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Artist Places Alfa Romeo P2 and 8C Competizione on Metal Sculpture to Celebrate Brand's 100th Anniversary

The art piece you see pictured above was created to celebrate Alfa Romeo's centenary at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed in West Sussex (2-4 July). Designed by artist Gerry Judah, it is located on the front lawn of the Goodwood House.

The Centenary sculpture showcases two of the Italian marque's most important cars and at the same time, the first and most recent Alfa Romeo to feature an eight-cylinder engine: the famous 1925 World Championship winning Alfa P2 Grand Prix racer and the modern day Alfa 8C Competizione. The two cars are placed inside a red metal structure that represents Alfa's famous Cloverleaf.

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Alfa Romeo 6C 3200 Cento Study with 156 GTA Heart

[Updated with an official statement] Just landed in our mailbox is this teaser sketch of the Alfa Romeo 6C 3200 Cento spider created by a Dutch/Italian design company called "1754 Fuori dell' ordinario" to celebrate the automaker's one hundred year anniversary.

Details remain sketchy for now but the design firm said that the styling was inspired from Alfa's historic racers and production roadster models, while the 156 GTA's 250HP 3.2-liter V6 would be the power of choice of the spider were to be produced. We've sent an email to the company for more information, so we'll update the story as soon as we hear back from them.

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Alfa Romeo Fans Celebrates Brand's 100th Anniversary with Disco Volante Sculpture

Alfa Romeo is celebrating its centenary this year and the city of Milan is paying tribute to the historic carmaker by staging four days of events from 24 to 27 June involving the City Council, Fiera Milano Expo, the Monza Race Track and the Alfa Romeo Museum.

One of the highlights of the event was the unveiling of a bronze sculpture donated by the Registro Italiano Alfa Romeo or 'RIAR', an association that brings together more than 1500 vintage Alfa owners, and numerous fans of the brand from around the world.

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New Alfa Romeo Giulietta Brochure

We've already brought you heaps of images of Alfa Romeo's new Giulietta hatch (click here for the gallery), but we thought you might also be interested in the car's official brochure. Unfortunately, the English version of the brochure was only 6-pages long, so we opted to upload photos of the Italian edition which is more comprehensive. Follow the jump to check it out.

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Aussie Cops get Alfa Romeo MiTo Police Car

We won't go as far as calling it an interceptor, but Sydney's Rose Bay Police is the latest law enforcement force in Australia to get an Alfa Romeo police car. The MiTo is the most recent in a series of cars provided by the Italian automaker to police forces around Australia.

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Foose-Made Alfa Romeo Carabo Replica Found on eBay

Originally made for Alfa Romeo by Bertone, the (real) Carabo was built atop a chassis donated by Alfa's 33 Stradale. Packing a 230-horsepower V8, it debuted at the 1968 Paris Motor Show. But this isn't it.

Don't worry, this isn't some tacky, Fiero-based kit car, either. The guy behind this replica wanted to purchase the original from Bertone (so the ad says) but the design firm wasn't willing to part with the masterpiece, so he decided to say to hell with that and have his own built...by Sam Foose. For those who just got out of bed, that would be Chip Foose's father.

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New Alfa Romeo Spider Design Study

Here are the names of the three designers behind this Alfa Romeo Spider: Alberto Gaiani, Massimo Paparella and Michela Zedda. They're from the Politecnico di Milano University, and this is the result of a project in conjunction with Alfa.

If ever built, this Spider would likely have an FR layout, a power cloth top, and retain the trademark Alfa nose. From these shots, it looks like a Pontiac Solstice / Saturn Sky from Alfa, a higher-luxury would-be Miata hunter.

Samuel Codegoni, a teacher at the university, explains the design like this: "One of the main ideas that drove this project was to express a sense of tension in action. This decidedly moves away from the first production model takes as a reference: the iconic Duetto of the 1960's - the second reference was the Alfa Spider from the '90s, with its typical wedge-shaped profile."

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Alfa Romeo Debuts 2011MY 159 Sedan and Sportwagon

If the Fiat Group remains committed to its 2010-2014 product plan, then the successor to today's Alfa Romeo 159, the new Giulia, will make its appearance on both sides of the Atlantic in 2012. Until then, Alfa will keep tweaking the current 159 with incremental improvements to sustain sales in Europe.

Following the recent introduction of the new 200HP 1.75-liter turbocharged petrol and 170HP 2.0-liter JTDM diesel into the range, Alfa Romeo has now announced the release of a 2011MY 159 that will be marketed in most European countries beginning from next month.

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