Fiat plans new high-performance Abarth models

Abarth Abarth, the tuning company owned by Fiat, is looking to grow the number of models it offers including a hot version of the 500L supermini, MSN Cars can reveal. Speaking exclusively to MSN Cars, Marco Magnanini, the European boss of Abarth, hinted that other models from Fiat could be given the Abarth treatment. When quizzed about the possibility of an Abarth 500L, he said: “The 500 family will offer us options.

Artega SE & GT (2011) at the Geneva motor show

German sports car maker Artega brought the current GT and the SE, an electric version of the obscure man’s Cayman, to the 2011 Geneva motor show. Artega… remind me who they are again? Artega was founded in 2006 in Dalbruch, Germany with the involvement of Karl Heinz Kalbfell, a well-known industry executive formerly of BMW, Rolls-Royce, Alfa Romeo and Maserati (he’s now at Lotus).

Chrysler moves design boss Ralph Gilles to lead new SRT brand

Chrysler Group on Tuesday shuffled the heads of its vehicle brands, placing design chief Ralph Gilles in charge of the newly created Street and Racing Technology (SRT) brand while handing his duties as head of the Dodge brand to Reid Bigland. The move is a way of getting all of the automaker's SRT efforts together under one leader, spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said. Gilles, 41, will still be in charge of Chrysler's motorsports activities and the design for Chrysler, Dodge, Ram and Jeep vehicles.