After tons of rumors concerning an Abarth range expansion, possibly including a standalone sports car, many were in doubt about the Italian brand’s future plans. Alas, it seems that Abarth will stick to its current range, so we’ll have to forget about all the dreams, at least for the mid term.
Abarth head honcho Marco Magnanini recently downplayed all the rumors, telling autocar that its medium term plans don’t include a sports car.
However, one can’t be entirely amazed by this, since the outcome of the story was pretty obvious given the economic conditions. First of all, it wouldn’t make sense for the Fiat Group to make a second sports car, since they’re planning to give us such a model with an Alfa Romeo badge, which will share its underpinnings with the next-gen Mazda Miata / MX-5.
What’s more, Magnanini also said that they’re not willing to give the Abarth treatment to other models like the Panda or the 500L.
And there’s even more bad news. The official also explained that Abarth isn’t looking to adopt more powerful engines into its current range. This means that we can’t expect Abarth’s 500, 500C and Punto to get Alfa Romeo’s 1.75 turbocharged petrol engine.
Again, not a surprising move, since Fiat is making efforts to promote Alfa Romeo as its high-volume sporty brand.
Thus, at least for now, Abarth will stay a niche brand. However, this only makes its aroma even sweeter and if you want proof for this, we’ll give you our recent Abarth 696 Edizione Maserati test drive.
However, one can’t be entirely amazed by this, since the outcome of the story was pretty obvious given the economic conditions. First of all, it wouldn’t make sense for the Fiat Group to make a second sports car, since they’re planning to give us such a model with an Alfa Romeo badge, which will share its underpinnings with the next-gen Mazda Miata / MX-5.
What’s more, Magnanini also said that they’re not willing to give the Abarth treatment to other models like the Panda or the 500L.
And there’s even more bad news. The official also explained that Abarth isn’t looking to adopt more powerful engines into its current range. This means that we can’t expect Abarth’s 500, 500C and Punto to get Alfa Romeo’s 1.75 turbocharged petrol engine.
Again, not a surprising move, since Fiat is making efforts to promote Alfa Romeo as its high-volume sporty brand.
Thus, at least for now, Abarth will stay a niche brand. However, this only makes its aroma even sweeter and if you want proof for this, we’ll give you our recent Abarth 696 Edizione Maserati test drive.
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