FIAT

[ChicagocrewIRL]

It's intriguing this new FIAT ownership of Chrysler. FIAT now owns many of the top auto brands and is well positioned to grow immensely once the world economy turns around.

FIAT currently owns Ferrari, Chrysler, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Lancia among others. I think the biggest problem FIAT faces is the prevailing perception that Italian automobiles are great for flash but are horrible from a quality and maintenance standpoint.

If FIAT can build and badge an Indy powerplant that can come close to the reliability of the current Honda it would go a long way to change that perception of Italian automobiles in the U.S. market.

I think it makes a lot of sense now for the Italian auto giant to get its engines to Indianapolis and enter the U.S. market in a big way.

I think it would be smartest to build and badge either an Alfa Romeo, Fiat or Maserati for Indy. The Chrysler brand is already well known but again if FIAT could build an Indy Chrysler/Dodge badged engine, it could help upgrade the Chrysler/Dodge brand image in the U.S.

It would be great if Ferrari came to Indy but I don't think that particular brand needs any help in the U.S. market.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

I think one of the reasons the Fiat Group participated in the manufacturers roundtable was that they wanted to return to the US market with the Alfa Romeo brand, so they wanted to badge the Indy Car engines as Alfa Romeos. The return was postponed to 2011 but that was before the alliance/acquisition of Chrysler. The question is, whether that deal has any effects of the return to Alfa Romeo - I don't think it should. I still expect Alfa Romeo engines in the Indy Car series and Dodge continue in NASCAR.

[garyshell]

I think one of the reasons the Fiat Group participated in the manufacturers roundtable was that they wanted to return to the US market with the Alfa Romeo brand, so they wanted to badge the Indy Car engines as Alfa Romeos. The return was postponed to 2011 but that was before the alliance/acquisition of Chrysler. The question is, whether that deal has any effects of the return to Alfa Romeo - I don't think it should. I still expect Alfa Romeo engines in the Indy Car series and Dodge continue in NASCAR.

If anything I think the Chrysler/Fiat deal would help the idea of Alfa badging an engine for the IRL. And maybe we could get, what in my mind is, the single most beautiful car ever built as a pace car for the Indy 500 and other races, the Alfa Romeo 8c Competizione.


Gary

[jimispeed]

Gary

I've seen a few test drives, and they weren't very impressed with its nimbleness.

But it's absolutely the meanest sounded car ever! It sounds like it could eat you alive!!!

Turn up your volume......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX93trcL57o

Heheheheheh.........

[garyshell]

I've seen a few test drives, and they weren't very impressed with its nimbleness.

But it's absolutely the meanest sounded car ever! It sounds like it could eat you alive!!!

Turn up your volume......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX93trcL57o

Heheheheheh.........

I got to see one in person last June when I was in the Netherlands on business. The same facility where we held a conference also held a private event for the cleints of a high end car dealer from Amsterdam. I snuck in and got to see the Alfa. WOWIE, WOW, WOW, WOW. It was drop dead gorgeous. Who care how it handles? Those lines and that sound are all I need.

Gary

[Mark in Oshawa]

Leave it to the Italians to build something THAT beautiful to the eye and then give it that sexy sounding motor....my lord that is a car that makes you 16 every time you sat in it...I would lose my license in a week...

[ChicagocrewIRL]

YES !!! Bring it to Indianapolis PLEEEEEEZ !!! I will take back every bad thing I have ever said about Italian automobiles and Italian drivers.

[CCWS77]

The U.S. administration pretty much recruited Fiat and handed them the deal on a golden platter. They have to put zero cash into the deal. Given that, I would be shocked if Fiat actually had solid plans for the future that extended beyond next month.

[call_me_andrew]

Usually an automaker only supports one series per continent. Chrysler already supports NASCAR so adding Alfa Romeo to IndyCar would only be redundant.

And for a long time I was hoping that they would badge the IndyCar engines as Ferraris as that may create a race at Imola.

[Jag_Warrior]

Usually an automaker only supports one series per continent. Chrysler already supports NASCAR so adding Alfa Romeo to IndyCar would only be redundant.

And for a long time I was hoping that they would badge the IndyCar engines as Ferraris as that may create a race at Imola.

I don't see it as redundant at all. What redundancy would a Dodge NASCAR program have with an Alfa IRL or ALMS program? I mean, what possible crossover could there be?

In the past, GM has supported NASCAR, CART and IMSA at the same time. More recently, they've supported NASCAR and ALMS at the same time. Ford has supported F1 and WRC in Europe, as well as NASCAR, Trans Am, NHRA and CART in the U.S.

FIAT Group could easily (if it's their de$ire) support a Dodge NASCAR program and an Alfa IRL or ALMS program. Even though Ferrari is run as an autonomous company within the FIAT Group (not FIAT Auto), I doubt that Dodge being in NASCAR is going to affect Ferrari's ALMS program. And I don't see there being much crossover between potential Dodge customers and potential Alfa customers, so why not have one in NASCAR and the other in the IRL or ALMS?

What I haven't seen yet is whether Chrysler is going to be a subsidiary under FIAT Group (sort of like Ferrari), or if it'll be rolled into FIAT Auto (like FIAT, Lancia, Alfa, etc.).