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.

"We have saved ammunition awaiting for the recovery," Sergio Marchionne told journalists on the sidelines of the Paris Auto Show. "New models will arrive at the end of 2011, early 2012. Launching new products in a market that is so structurally weak has no sense," Marchionne added.

Hopefully between now and then we'll at least get a few hints at what Fiat will offer in the form of some sexy new concepts.

Other than waiting for that to happen, expect the super-sized Italian automaker to be concentrating on the Chrysler/Lancia revamp as well as trying to acquaint people in the States with the 500 mini and, hopefully, a new type of Fiat.

Expect more news on Fiat's product plans as it becomes available.

By Phil Alex

Source: Reuters

Fresh Videos of New Lancia Stratos Shot During Final Testing

The developers of the New Stratos have released some new video footage of their Ferrari F430 Scuderia-based supercar. The first clip shows WTTC and former Formula-1-Pilot Tiago Monteiro fine-tuning the chassis of the New Stratos at Balooco test track, Italy, while the second video is from the final wind tunnel test that took place on September 13th at Pininfarina's plant in Turin.

We're still waiting for the full technical specs and performance numbers but for now, head over the jump to watch the two aforementioned videos plus one more with the owner of the one-off supercar, Michael Stoschek, tackling the Arosa hillclimb in his classic Lancia Stratos Group 4.

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Lancia Stratos revival won't be one-off, production planned

The story of the coachbuilt Lancia Stratos gets more curious by the day. Although it appeared that the homage was a Pininfarina-designed one-off for a wealthy and anonymous European, Car & Driver has done some snooping of its own and reports that it wasn't exactly designed by Pininfarina and it won't exactly be a one-off.

Supposedly in the works for four years, word is the new Stratos was penned by Jason Castriota when he was still at Pininfarina before departing for Stile Bertone. Italiaspeed has a sketch of a Stratos with a different front end, signed by Castriota, that was published in the Japanese magazine Zoom. If that sketch is accurate it could jibe with what a tipster wrote to us, saying that the client had asked the front end be changed to something more traditional. Even though the C/D notes the photo above as having been taken on Pininfarina's roof, according to C/D it is Bertone that will get credit for this new Stratos – and we supposed Castriota will, too, eventually.

The best news for all those commenters disappointed that there would be just one: rumor is this thing is going into production. If true, it would be a huge deal for Lancia, an underperforming brand with rebadged Chryslers that would have this to parade around the world. Everyone wins. And to that shadowy, monied-up American, if you made this happen, we salute you.