Alfa Romeo returns to Canada this year with 4C
Also, new generation Fiat Spider, based on Miata platform, expected in 2016
The new Alfa Romeo 4C sports car will be available in North America late this year.
“We’re finalizing the car right now so it should be here by the end of the year,” Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters after a Detroit auto show breakfast event.
The 4C, to be built in Italy, will be the first Alfa Romeo branded car to be sold here since Fiat last marketed in the United States and Canada almost 20 years ago. No prices have been announced, but it’s expected to sell for between $50,000 and $60,000.
Powered by a four-cylinder, 200 horsepower, 1.8-litre engine, it will go from zero to 100 kilometres per hour in about five seconds.
The 4C is expected to be followed in 2016 by a new-generation Spider built on the Mazda Miata platform under an alliance between Fiat and Mazda. The Spider and Miata will feature different body styles and engines.
“I think (the alliance) is going to create great support for Alfa coming back into the United States,” Marchionne said after addressing 800 people at the meeting. “We should be making an announcement in the next two months or so about how we’re going to proceed.
“A lot of work has gone on in the choice of architecture and models,” he said adding that his key objective now is ensuring “we have the right powertrain set-up.”
The two-seat Spider sports car, which made its debut as a concept car at the Geneva Auto Show in 2011, is expected to feature rear-wheel drive technology, a 1.8-litre, four-cylinder engine and a six-speed transmission.
Joint production of the Miata and Spider is expected to begin in 2015 at Mazda’s Hiroshima assembly plant.
Fiat is planning to introduce nine new Alfa Romeo models into the U.S. by the end of 2016.