The Dodge Dart is the resurrection of the midsize car that became popular back in the ’70s which makes use of the platform that serves as the foundation of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta. The new Dodge compact sedan is the first product of the cooperation between Fiat and Chrysler since the take over of Fiat back in 2009.

The design of the 2013 Dart does not take the lines of its Italian cousin since it is a 4-door sedan and not a 5-door hatchback. The vehicle is also wider and longer compared to the Giulietta. The crosshair grille also shows a very Dodge character plus the rear lights which takes inspiration from the Dodge Charger.

The Dodge Dart is 4,672 mm in length, 1,830 mm in width, and 1,465 mm in height. The wheelbase is pegged at 2,703 mm. Looking at these numbers, this ride is very much similar to the size of the newest 3-Series from BMW.

The interior of the Dodge Dart makes use of soft-touch, high quality materials plus a high tech reconfigurable cluster display of gauges among other features. The seven-inch display can be customized the driver to include a navigation system showing assist for every turn, eco-meter, audio, compass, temperatures, fuel economy, and analog or digital gauges.

It can also be setup with a media center making use of an 8.4 inch Uconnect touch screen that has built in features like radio, iPod control, navigation, blue tooth, weather updates, and other interesting stuff.

Buyers can also choose from twelve body colors, 14 combinations of color and trim for the interior, and seven options for the rims of the vehicle.

The Dart will have three options for the 4-cylinder gas engine ranging from 160 bhp to 184 bhp.

Here is a good video to give you a sneak peek of the 2013 Dodge Dart :

Alfa Romeo is expected to tap an executive to spearhead its operations in the United States before the end of the year prior to their planned relaunch in 2013. Alfa Romeo exited the US market back in 1995 but market tests done recently showed positive results for the brand. The market pulse have convinced the management of Alfa to first focus on North America before crawling back into Europe.

Marchionne pointed out that the desirability indications of the Alfa Romeo as a brand is still positive despite being absent in the market for quite some time now. Alfa is still among the well known car brands across the globe so the company wants to take advantage of the eagerness of the market.

The mother company foresees Alfa Romeo to deliver around 400,000 units annually to its global consumers as soon as 2014. The target is quite on the ambitious side as the sales reports reflect an average of about 150,000 per year since the ’80s.

In North America, Fiat sees Alfa Romeo to roll out 85,000 vehicles by 2014 which the CEO considers as a realistic goal.

The relaunch of Alfa Romeo will have the following lineup up for grabs the rear drive compact Alfa Romeo 4C and the SUV which was developed in collaboration with Jeep. The role of the 4C in the US relaunch is vital as it rekindles the love of the market for the Alfa Spider made famous by the film The Graduate that showed in the 1960s.

Alfa Romeo will also have the 6C during the 2014 relaunch of the brand. This will be the flagship saloon lifting its DNA from the platform of the Chrysler 300. It will have the tamer version of the V63.6L Pentastar powerplant under its hood. The lineup will also include a new version of the Spider, the 5-door Mito.

Fiat is also expanding its network to around 150 dealerships before the end of the year.

The Italian carmaker recently released a teaser of the 4C on their Facebook page which was initially introduced as a concept car at the Geneva Salon.

According to the topman of Chrysler and Fiat groups, Sergio Marchionne, the 4C will be rolling onto dealerships in Europe by the first half of next year while some sample units getting on to U.S. shore before the end of 2012. Consumers in the US might after all see the production version of the Alfa Romeo 4C, or if not Alfa might field a 4C roadster version or even a more aggressive version.

In Geneva this year, the 4C concept was presented having a 1.75L turbocharged petrol engine equipped with direct injection. This engine is paired with twin clutch Alfa TCT transmission. The concept rear wheel drive 4C only weighs around 1,873 pounds with a power weight ratio of 4 kg per horsepower and can speed up from 0 to 100 kilometers per hour below 5 seconds. Top speed is pegged at 255 kph.

Watch the promo video below of the Alfa Romeo 4C:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Just recently, Fiat S.p.A. has announced its approval of the $1.78 billion budget that will be used to ready the factory where the very first SUV will be born in the 101 years history of Alfa. This will also be where a new Jeep model unit will be made, in replacement of the former Patriot / Compass models.

It is speculated that the production output will start showing by the latter part of year 2012. This was confirmed by Sergio Marchionne, the CEO of the joint Fiat-Chrysler team.

According to the partnership’s spokesperson, the new Alfa SUV model will be going head to head with Mercedes-Benz GLK, Audi Q5, and the BMW X3. Marchionne also adds that the Mirafiori, Turin plant is the sole factory where the new Jeep model will be produced.

Out of the initial 280,000 units to me made in the Turin plant will be sold in the European market while the other half will be sold in North America. The new Alfa model units carry a big weight since it’s part of the Fiat’s re-launch in North America that is scheduled in early 2013.

An estimated 15,000 Jeep units are expected to be made in a year while Alfa units are expected to be somewhere around 100,000 to 130,000.

Like its two predecessors, the TZ3 is also a legitimate race car. However, this new machine is made with an aluminum body which is stretched over a carbon fiber chassis and a tube frame. As was already indicated, the car isn’t lacking in power at all. Significantly upgraded from its forbears’ engines, the TZ3 performs at its best with nothing less than a V8 engine.

According to Zagato, the TZ3 was commissioned by Martin Kapp, a German collector. The car was created to celebrate 100 years of F1 racing with Ferrari, Autodelta, Alfa Corse, and Scuderia Zagato. Certainly, the creators of the TZ3 did the job well, what with panache and class to spare.

The TZ3 Corsa can seat two people. It’s equipped with a rear-wheel drive supercar and its engine is mounted mid-front. It weighs only 850 kg which should be easily maneuverable with the power of its 4.2L V8 engine. The Corba is fitted with a 6-speed sequential gearbox. The car can sprint in 3.5 seconds to its top speed which is 300 kilometers per hour.

The American market has not accepted the functionality of a hatchback as the everyday family car. It just follows that a wagon from the luxury segment will be on the top choice of the list. Mercedes Benz and BMW are both selling their smaller units but they both veered away from selling the hatch versions in the United States.

Alfa Romeo is following suit and may be opting to send the bigger Giulia sedan to the American market. It might just be the first Alfa Romeo that will be produced in high volume to mark the return of the brand in the U.S. soil.

An Italian newspaper published an interview with the top executive of Alfa Romeo who discloses that the Giulia will be rolling of the dealerships by 2012. The CEO explained that they are keeping the MiTo (who is doing reasonably well against the Fiat 500 and the Mini!) and the new Milan for a more viable market in European countries. So it is clear that the Alfa Romeo will have the Giulia leading its return on the U.S. roads.

Bigger cars actually have bigger rooms to earn a profit compared to smaller cars like the MiTo. It might be a wise decision for the Italian car maker to have Giulia over the Milano or MiTo in a hesitant U.S. market.

A bright future though is seen on the 2011 Grand Cherokee of the Jeep line up. This vehicle was developed with their former partner, Daimler, and shares a lot of characteristics with the next generation of ML Class SUV from Mercedes Benz.

The executives from Fiat are contemplating on using the Jeep platform to develop a premium SUV under the Alfa Romeo badge. The vehicle is expected to compete with the likes of Audi Q7, Touareg from Volkswagen, and the BMW X5 in their market in North America.

They are looking at European sales performance of the Grand Cherokee and it is quite impressive. Fiat is planning to duplicate this success in the North American market with the new SUV from Alfa Romeo.

Experts are expecting that the SUV donning the Alfa Romeo colors will not have the off road capabilities of the Grand Cherokee. It may also not be equipped with the HEMI V8 engine but have the Pentastar V6 or a diesel variant.

The SUV from Alfa Romeo is expected to give the brand some flesh in the US market to add to the very limited 8C Competizione it will deliver to the consumers.

The Giulia will lead the comeback of the Alfa Romeo everyday car in the United States after a 15 year hiatus. Earlier reports revealed that the MiTo hatchback and the Milano will be the first models to roll out of the U.S. dealerships.

Alfa Romeo sees the Giulia to be the car that Americans will find interesting. The car manufacturer plans to build cars with Chrysler and inject the Alfa Romeo Soul that the consumers can appreciate and find useful.

Alfa Romeo is now a division of Fiat and they cannot afford to make a costly mistake when they try to re-enter the U.S. A jump in sales is what Alfa Romeo badly needs. Alfa Romeo is looking for short term gains as of now and cannot wait a few more years to see results.

The Italian car maker, after doing a case study of the MiTo, just did not find a positive feedback from the U.S. market about the hatchback. A luxury, small car like the MiTo might find some buyers and sell about 20,000 units annually but that is not an acceptable figure for Alfa Romeo.

Bigger sedans are favored also for having a bigger price margin which can help the car maker rake in some profits on a per unit basis compared to hatchbacks or smaller cars. The U.S. which is still trying to recover from a recession does not the see good economics in acquiring cars like the MiTo.

The industry is awaiting though the result of the collaboration of Chrysler and Alfa Romeo. The companies might share platforms but everyone is wondering how one brand will look different from the other.

Fiat and Chrysler have also gone a switch in branding; however the re-branding of Dodge could possibly be the most crucial for the United States. If re-vamped Dodge vehicles can meet the needs of Alfa Romeo, then this move could help save U.S. production and boost supply.

According to a report published in Auto Car, Marchioone gives much importance to the merge of both Dodge and Alfa Romeo brands. Dodge is the ultimate muscle car of the United States while Alfa Romeo its European counterpart.

When both models are sold side by side, Alfa Romeo could overpower Dodge. Therefore it is assumed that Marchionne is considering to sell the Alfa Romeo models that are in the U.S. as Dodges.

Several reports have also assumed that Fiat vehicles might be sold in the U.S. as re-branded Alfa Romeo since the Fiat cars were not so well-accepted during their previous round in the country.

Going back to the Dodges to be sold in Europe as muscle cars, fans and critics can stop imaging how a fusion of the Alfa Romeo and Dodge Viper would look like. Just the same, Fiat was given the reins to lead the Viper business. Compared to the former, the latter looks like a fruitful partnership.

MultiAir power plants is said to generate 10% more power and 15% more torque. Aside from these, car owners can also save about 10% more fuel and lower significantly their emissions.

The Mito 1.4L hatch will be the guinea pig for the MultiAir technology. This variant is will be released with engine options of 170hp, 135hp, or 105hp.

The MultiAir system relies on the breakthrough design of the electro-hydraulic valve which makes saving more fuel and decreasing emission possible. The combustion of the petrol engine and its ability to conserve fuel is dependent on the quality of the air charges in the cylinders.

In conventional engines, the air inside the cylinders is controlled by adjusting the pressure through the camshafts and throttle valve, and by the opening of the intake valve. One drawback of the MultiAir system is the 10% of energy wasted when it pumps the air to reach atmospheric exhaust pressure.

The use of electro-hydraulic set up t control the valves compared to the electro-mechanical system is key to the fuel efficiency of the MultiAir engines. Stats also reflect only a small power drawn from the engine to achieve its purpose.