The leading tuner of Alfa Romeos, Novitec, has added some spice to the sporty Giulietta, giving owners several power package options, a styling kit and an assortment of wheels to choose from. Power packages are available for the 1.4L TB 16V engine, 1.8L turbocharged engine, 1.6L JTD 16V engine and the 2.0L JTD 16V engine. The most powerful 1.8L turbocharged engine gets an increase of 26-hp, bringing its peak to an impressive 261-hp figure. To match the horsepower increases, Novitec also offers stainless steel rear mufflers with dual- or quad-tipped designs, giving the Giulietta a sportier tone to match its new performance.

A very slightly used 2009 Alfa Romeo 8C Spider is currently for sale at the Ferrari Maserati dealership in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Sporting only 98-miles on the odometer, this 8C Spider has a $294,900 price tag, not far off from its original $299,000 retail price. Only 500 units of the 8C Spider were produced, with a scant 35 that made it over to the United States.

Some believe that if you are a true petrol-head, you have to have owned an Alfa Romeo at least once in your life. Taking a look at their history, its easy to see why. This Italian brand has produced some of the most gorgeous automotive designs ever, like the Montreal, GTV6 coupe and the 8C Competizione.

Alfa Romeo fans, prepare to once again exercise your well-practiced art of patience. The launch of the brand in North America has once again been pushed back… sort of.

It’s been more than 15 years since a new Alfa Romeo was last sold in the United States. However, that’s all expected to change next year, as the brand returns to our market, with a production version of the 4C concept (shown) plus a new premium compact, the Giulia.

Remember when your parents told you that if you didn’t do well the first time, try, try again? Fiat and Dodge have heeded that advice. So when you’re at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, expect to see Caliber: Round Two.

On August 19th at Laguna Seca Golf Ranch, Monterey California, Concorso Italiano will open the traditional Monterey/Pebble Beach Weekend. The event will feature more than 800-1000 beautifully designed Italian cars on display. Enthusiasts can engage in conversations with fellow car lovers and enjoy Italian fashion, food and art. There will no doubt be an astonishing variety of Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s, Maserati’s, Alfa Romeo’s, Pagani’s, and Lancia’s on display  The event will run from 9:00am- 5:00 pm and admission will cost $130 per person.

Fiat is hoping to build a strong U.S-market demand for the 500 by expanding its line-up with a successor to the Bravo compact hatchback.

Alfa Romeo is banking on the 4C’s ability to seduce us like those posters of Audrey Hepburn from Roman Holiday in every sorority girl’s dorm room. And as an attention-grabbing prelude to a glorious U.S. return, it’s working. Consider us seduced.

Before Alfa Romeo enters the US market, it will need to position itself as a volume manufacturer and do battle against the Germans from Audi and BMW. And what better way to build volume than to join the lucrative luxury SUV/Crossover market?

Ralph Lauren’s prestigious sports car collection is on show for the first time at Paris’ Musée des Arts Décoratifs. Lauren is normally reluctant to publicly display his vehicles, although he last let publications such as Road & Track and Vanity Fair get a glimpse of various vehicles in his stable. Cars from manufacturers like Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Porsche and Ferrari will be on display. The show is on from April 28 to August 28.

Alfa Romeo’s been threatening to invade American shores for as long as, well, we’ve been trying to find Bin Laden. But now with Terrorist Numero Uno sweeping up plankton in the ocean, it looks like there’s no choice but for Fiat to finally follow through with what they’ve announced over 10 years ago.

Novitec is proud to announce that they’ve built the world’s fastest and most powerful Alfa Romeo, taking an 8C Spider and equipping it with 600-hp and a top speed of 190-mph.

We don’t know if he read Forbes’ list of worst cars for 2011. All we do know is that he’s made his own list, and that he is called the Stig.

That’s right, Top Gear’s ‘the Stig’ has released his list of the worst five cars he’s ever driven, with some shocking surprises and some rather obvious ones. The Stig in question here is the second Stig or the White Stig, Ben Collins, who joined the show in 2003 after the Black Stig was killed off and who left the show last year.

The list includes a total of five cars, two American, two Italian and even one from the UK. Hit the jump for a brief summary.

[Source: Drive.com.au]

Famed Italian coach builder Zagato has built yet another tribute to Alfa Romeo’s 100th anniversary, the TZ3 Stradale, and has upped the ante by eschewing Italian underpinnings for a Dodge Viper ACR chassis and powertrain.

Those who have been eagerly awaiting the return of the Alfa Romeo brand to North America will have to continue to be patient as the premium Fiat group brand won’t arrive in 2012 as previously planned. According to sources inside Alfa, the brand’s launch in the U.S. and Canada has been pushed back until 2013.

One of Zagato’s most beautiful concepts in recent memory, the Alfa Romeo TZ3 Corsa, has been confirmed to be set for production—and it will ride on a Dodge Viper chassis, as well as its v10 engine.

Fiat’s 900cc TwinAir 2-cylinder turbocharged engine, currently available in the European market Fiat 500, has won critical acclaim for its performance and use of advanced technology, and the motor will soon be available in both the Alfa Romeo MiTo and Fiat Punto.

It’s amazing what some people will pay for vintage Ferraris. Take the case of a 1952 340 Mexico, chassis number 0224 AT. Previously owned by Larry Nicklin, it was a star attraction at the RM Amelia Island Auction on March 12.

Despite claims by Fiat that its not letting go of Alfa Romeo, Volkswagen is continuing to put pressure on the powers-that-be to acquire the premium brand.

Alfa Romeo’s new 4C flagship ‘affordable’ sports car, which debuted at the Geneva Auto Show last week is likely headed to the U.S. according to brand CEO Harald Wester.

In a victory more deserving than the Oscar for The King’s Speech, Pininfarina has been selected for the best concept of 2010 by Car Design News, for their stunning Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta concept.

If Fiat ever sells Alfa Romeo, says VW chairman Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen could take the underperforming brand and quadruple its sales within five years. Ambitious? Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne certainly doesn’t think so.

If you were one of the legions who lusted after an Alfa Romeo 8C but couldn’t afford the six-figure price tag – or get a spot on the waiting list – will have another shot at Milanese glory as Alfa debuted their 4C GTA concept.

After repeatedly voicing his interest in purchasing the Alfa Romeo brand from its Fiat parent company, Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech today received a decisive answer. It’s just not the answer he was looking for.

Alfa Romeo will introduce a new flagship performance car – but at a more affordable price. We say ‘more affordable’ because the previous top model from Alfa, the 8C, cost over 200,000 Euros. Called the 4C GTA, it’s expected to head into production in 2012 and arrive at dealers priced at a more reasonable 40,000 Euros ($55,000).

As part of the new joint venture between Fiat and Chrysler, the two companies will build 280,000 SUVs a year at the new Fiat facility near Turin, Italy. The SUVs will be produced for the Alfa Romeo and Jeep brands.

At the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, Fiat sub-brand Alfa Romeo is expected to debut a new sports car concept based on the underpinnings of the KTM X-Bow – a track machine similar to the Ariel Atom.

One recent discussion taking place at Autoguide HQ was how long it’s been since we’ve driven a car that was truly worth a bad review. Most cars these days are pretty good, and the true stinkers are few and far between.

Jeep‘s venerable Wrangler will get the much lauded Pentastar V6 next year, according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Could the Porsche Cayenne finally have a serious rival when it comes to delivering on- an off-road performance, as well as stunning looks and serious luxury? Perhaps.

Dodge‘s largely unloved Caliber compact hatchback will get the ax in 2012, with Chrysler replacing the car with a model based on Alfa Romeo’s much lauded Giulietta hatchback.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that parent company Fiat is looking to increase its stake in Chrysler to 35 percent, and is looking to bring out a Chrysler IPO in the second half of 2011.

Alfa Romeo’s Giulietta and MiTo hatchbacks will get an all-new, in house dual clutch gearbox, known as the TCT, which will be unveiled at this month’s Paris Auto Show.

Alfa Romeo’s Giulietta hatchback isn’t slated to come to North America until it’s redesigned in 2014, but a whole truck-load of them was spotted in Michigan, heading north on I-75. We can only presume that the cars were heading to Chrysler HQ for some kind of evaluation, but this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this happen.

Paying special tribute to Alfa Romeo’s celebrated sport tradition, Florentine designer Giuliano Mazzuoli unveiled the new Contagiri 8C Competizione watch to great fanfair.

With FIAT preparing a return to North America, company CEO Sergio Marchionne said that Alfa Romeo vehicles would complement Fiat products in the same showrooms, giving dealers a wider array of vehicles to sell.

FIAT CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters at a Chrysler event in Ohio that Alfa Romeo cars would be sold in the United States in joint Alfa/Fiat dealerships starting in 2012.

Volkswagen looks to be following a brand strategy similar to Pokemon; “gotta catch ’em all”. The company is aiming to increase its stable to 12 brands, and one of those under consideration is apparently Alfa Romeo.

Unveiled at the Geneva Auto Show earlier this year, the Alfa Romeo Pandion Bertone Mantide concept car is once of three coachbuilt vehicles built to celebrate the brand’s centennial. Based on the Alfa 8C platform and using the same 4.7-liter V8 engine, it features over-the-top design language, especially when it comes to the particularly Baroque wheels and rear end.

As the collector car world gears up for the annual Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance on August 15, Alfa Romeo fans are looking forward to their favorite marque taking center stage. This year marks Alfa’s centennial and the event will include a display of some of the most rare and significant Alfa Romeo automobiles produced in the last 100 years; including seven that will make the trip all the way from  the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo in Arese, Italy.

A New York Times article reporting on Fiat’s push to “impose American-style standards” at an Alfa Romeo plant in Southern Italy, where workers workers will have to *gasp* work more hours and cut back on absences. One irate employee told the Times that“… too much work is going to kill our workers”, prompting nods of agreement from UAW management types across North America.

How do you celebrate a very special anniversary? Well, if you’re Chopard and Alfa Romeo, you commission a very special line of timepieces.

A Fiat dealer along Paris’ famed Champs-Elysees will play host to the first side-by-side Jeep and Fiat dealer as the brands seek to integrate themselves in anticipation for anticipation for Chrysler’s European rollout.

Alfa Romeo is looking to emulate Porsche, another sporty brand, and produce two new SUVs designed to go head to head with Audi’s Q5 and upcoming Q3 crossover vehicles.

According to Car & Driver Euro-based blogger Jens Meiners, more than one of his sources within the Volkswagen Group suggest that they would like to take over Alfa Romeo from Fiat. According to Meiners, this move would allow Alfa to reach its ambitious sales targets, given that a takeover by VW would virtually guarantee class-leading performance and execution of future Alfa models.

There’s been some buzz brewing on Alfa Romeo’s return to the North American market with an SUV and convertible entry, with their SUV targeting the BMW X3 and Audi Q5 market. But this is probably the last thing we expected when we finally set eyes on an SUV with Alfa Romeo branding. Spotted at Alfa Romeo’s 100-year anniversary was an SUV sporting Kamal on the hood and BMW X1 styling… no wait, it’s just a BMW X1 rebadged. As for the Kamal letting, you may remember that that was the name given to an Alfa SUV concept, shown at the Geneva Auto Show a few years back.

Fiat’s Abarth brand has been tuning economical pint-sized Italian runabouts for decades, but under a corporate restructuring the high-performance division is set to expand its expertise. The company’s marketing boss, Antonino Labate has confirmed that select Alfa Romeo products will get Abarth tuning packages. It’s not clear what models will be included, but Alfa does have significant plans to grow its brand, even in North America.

Alfa Romeo fans are bracing themselves amid credible reports of an SUV joining the ranks of the Italian marque’s lineup. Autoguide previously reported on an Alfa Romeo SUV as a key product for their North American return.

Cara-what? The Carabinieri, Italy’s paramilitary police, are famous for their sharp liveried Alfa Romeo sedans, which can be seen driving around the streets of Rome, Genoa, Milan and other glamorous locales we know about only through movies and stereotypical depections of la dolce vita.

The Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione is one of the most beautiful, and certainly one of the rarest exotics on the road. The classic GT shape looks great at any angle, and the 4.7 liter Ferrari/Maserati sourced V8 can make grown men can make grown men weep at a full clip. But sometimes exclusive isn’t exclusive enough, and it seems that Alfa intends to release a GTA (Gran Turismo Allegerito, it means faster) version of the super-coupe sometime in the next year, just in time for the Italian manufacturer’s hundred-year anniversary.

Gran Turismo Allegerito sounds so sexy in Italian, when it really just means “Grand Touring Light Weight” in English. The name is banal, but the GTA products in Alfa Romeo”s lineup have always been scorching. The first GTA’s dominated sports car racing in Europe and America (until the Datsun 510 came around), and subsequent cars, like the 156 GTA and 147 GTA, re-wrote the book on powerful front-wheel drive cars.

Earlier today Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne outlined his company’s 5-year plan, even going to far as to discuss what products each brand in the Fiat family will deliver in the future. But Marchionne didn’t give all the details, leaving many to speculate and fill in the blanks.

It’s been 15 years since a new Alfa Romeo has been sold in North America (not counting the ultra-exclusive 8C Competizione Supercar), but by 2012, the famous Milanese manufacturer will be back, according to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne. Along with the MiTo hatchback (above), the Guiletta hatchback (replacing the current 147) and the new mid-size Guilia (replacing the current 159), a new Spider sports car and two new SUVs will join the line-up.

Fiat will cut u to 5,000 jobs at its Italian plants by moving production of several Alfa Romeo models to North America. According to a report by Automotive News Europe, the cuts will affect three Italian plants. Parent company Fiat hasn’t released the specific details, but it is expected that the models slated to be built in North America are the 159 replacement, 166 replacement and a new mid-size crossover.

According to Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne, his company’s stylish Alfa Romeo brand will return to North America in the next 24 months, meaning that models should be on sale in 2012. “I’m a lot more confident now that Alfa Romeo will reconstitute a product offering that is acceptable globally, and more in particular in the United States and Canada,” said Marchionne to Automotive News.

The upcoming Alfa Romeo Giulietta, set to debut at the Geneva Auto Show next month, will likely underpin the next generation Dodge Caliber and Chrysler PT Cruiser. According to a report by Automotive News, Fiat (Alfa’s parent company) is looking to sell one million vehicles based of the Giulietta platform, 700,000 of which it intends to move in the U.S. as Chrysler company products.

A week ahead of a planned Fiat/Chrysler press conference in which Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of both automakers, was to outline the future of Chrysler, much of the information has been revealed in an in-depth report in the Wall Street Journal. But before we get to the new products that the Italian-owned automaker is planning to bring into the North American marketplace, it’s time to learn the fate of the vehicles being axed. And judging from the list, it appears as though Fiat is intent on moving its products in and Chrysler’s products out.

While Alfa Romeo seems to have put its U.S. expansion on hold, the company has decided to deliver on its promise to bring the stunning 8C Competizione to the U.S., delivering the first of 84 vehicles destined for the States to renowned auto collector James Glickenhaus.

Welcome to the AutoGuide.com News Blog, your comprehensive source for breaking automotive news. Our staff of writers and contributors will keep you updated on all aspects of the auto industry, from vehicle unveilings, to concept cars, to news from auto shows, the aftermarket and the world of motorsports.