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| FIAT and Capitalia, Banca
Intesa, SanPaolo-IMI, and UniCredito have signed an agreement for the sale
by FIAT to the Banks of 51% of Fidis Retail Italia ("FRI"), a FIAT Group
company that provides consumer credits to retail customers with financing
for automobile purchases in Europe. The agreed purchase price is about
370 million euros.
Following the agreements reached by FIAT and the Banks, FIAT has the right to repurchase the stake of FRI sold to the Banks by January 31, 2006. The FRI Group will operates in 12 European countries, with a retail customer portfolio of about 10 billion euros, and approximately 1,200 employees. In 2002, around 30% of FIAT Auto Group sales were financed by FRI and its European subsidiaries. Meanwhile Guiseppe Morchio has confirmed that the sales process of Fiat Avio and the insurance unit, Toto, is being accelerated in the bid to raise further cash. |
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| Eight years ago designer
Gioacchino Acampora revived the name of the famous Carrozzeria Castagna
by presenting an unusual Alfa Romeo 75-based prototype in Geneva after
purchasing the right to the historical name.
After a quiet period Acampora has bounced back in Geneva with three concepts, one new one which is on display here. Castagna have re-worked the dashboard controls of the 1995 Auge concept, a four-seater custom body on Maserati 3200GT chassis. The G.C. is a new two-door, two-seater custom-body based on Alfa Romeo chassis with rear wheel drive. Lastly the Rosselini, which is here only in drawing form, is a barchetta custom-body built on one of last year's Ferrari GT sportscar racers. |
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| Fornasari have brought two
of their 5.7-litre Chevrolet powered RR450 off-road vehicles to Geneva.
One full road ready black version is joined by a mock-up model finished
as a Paris-Dakar style rally-raid machine.
The RR450, which Fornasari claim is the world's fastest off-roader, received its world premiere at the Bologna Motor Show last December. The hand made car, with a claimed high technical content, will commence production in limited numbers this year. |
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 Fiat
brought three Stilos to Geneva. A 5-door 1.9 JTD 16v and a Multiwagon 1.9
JTD 16v were joined by a revised Stilo Abarth. Available for the first
time with a manual 5-speed gearbox option, the Abarth now offers a revised
spoiler package. |
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| Forty years after Autodelta
was first set up, the company's distinctive triangular logo is making a
comeback on Alfa Romeo cars. Autodelta, first seen on 5 March 1963, made
its reappearance on 5 March 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show. The logo will
appear on the new Alfa Romeo 156 GTAs due to take part in the European
Touring Car Championship, where they will be driven by Nicola Larini, Gabriele
Tarquini and Roberto Colciago.
The GTA Racing Team Nordauto, led by Monica Sipsz, will race under the Autodelta colours from this year. The combination of Alfa Romeo and Autodelta aims to offer winning racing cars that are close to standard production models. |
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