Latest news with #Fiat
Top Gear
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- Top Gear
Here are nine of the best classic car interiors
Advertisement The most beautiful Benz of all time (fight me) also boasted a classically correct cabin. Big, slender wheel, sensibly situated vents, radio and switches, the clear, watch-like dials – it's still a paragon of ergonomic bliss. High-quality, for high society – cars like this cemented Mercedes' reputation for quality and craftsmanship at a time when the modern-era Audi brand barely existed and the idea of a mass-market Merc hatchback would've seemed preposterous. The Pagoda's probably a tad more timeless than the current A-Class's job lot of widescreens. Advertisement - Page continues below A simpler time. A time before iDrive. A time when BMW basically perfected sporty exec saloon design. It's just so wonderfully gimmick-free. A round steering wheel, dials you could read from the back seat through the wrong end of binoculars, and a dashboard console angled just-so to the driver. Not an ambient-lit heated armrest with integrated wireless tablet charger in sight. Ahh, the Nineties. Meet your heroes: the understated brilliance of the E39 M5 You might like Everything you need, and nothing you don't. Actually, the original Fiat 500 is missing quite a lot you'd need, these days – crash protection, sound and heat insulation, and any security measures whatsoever spring to mind. But just look at it – the idyllic simplicity and honesty of the small car that put Italy on wheels. Advertisement - Page continues below Of course there had to be a bonkers vintage Citroen in here, and what better than the wantonly wacky DS, with its single-spoke steering wheel, spindly gearchange, horizontal speedo and squishy, plush chairs. It's as comfy and idiosyncratic as, ooh, I dunno, a Salvador Dali exhibition in a bouncy castle? No, even comfier. Retro review: the Citroen DS The '59 Bonneville is one of the quintessential jet-age designs of Americana – it's got fins, chrome, loads of little aerospace nods and would turn a pedestrian crash test examiner's hair white at fifty paces these days. Loads of American metal from this era qualifies for ultimate interior design wackiness, but we've gone for the Bonneville because it treads the line between kitsch and caricature so cleverly. A real modern classic. The TT's interior was, fact fans, the work of the splendidly-named Romulus Rost, who also dreamt up the Bentley Continental GT's interior complete with its rotating Toblerone dashboard screen. Clearly not a man who enjoys exposed infotainment buttons, then, as the TT's trademark radio cover proves. From the knobbly air vent surrounds to the spars around the dashboard, the TT was the car that woke the world up to Audi interior design in a big way. Audi TT: Mk1 vs Mk3 It takes a marque as raving-mad as TVR to compromise something as fundamental as where the driver can comfortably hold the steering wheel, just so it can install extra gauges and an air vent underneath the steering wheel centre itself. The rest of the Cerb's interior is a crazy land of bulbous blobs and topsy-turvy leather hillocks. Quite some place to spend time, until the breakdown lorry arrives to get you home. Again. Nine of the best TVRs: a list Advertisement - Page continues below Striped seats. Dimpled gear lever. Austere, dense-looking dashboard. The GTI's template hasn't deviated much – it's one of the all-time hot hatch icons inside and out. Retro review: the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf GTI As the GT's from 2003, it doesn't seem old enough to be a classic. And yet, because it's so heavily inspired by the GT40 of the mid-Sixties, it certainly qualifies. This is one of the all-time great retro updates of a cabin – it's all so faithful to the original, from the dial layout to the holey seats, and yet it's very elegantly updated with tasteful switchgear. A true concept car made real, in fact. Advertisement - Page continues below
CTV News
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- CTV News
Stellantis says financial loss caused by Trump tariffs as Brampton plant sits empty
The maker of Jeep, Ram, and Fiat announced a financial loss caused by Trump's tariffs has forced the company to slash production and shipments.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Vauxhall owner slumps to £2bn loss after botched bet on hydrogen
The owner of Vauxhall has slumped to a €2.3bn (£2bn) loss after cancelling an expensive bet on hydrogen-powered vehicles and electric cars. Stellantis, which also owns Fiat and Peugeot, said scrapping plans for a fleet of hydrogen-powered vans as well as soaring restructuring costs and the impact of Donald Trump's trade war would push it into the red for the first half of 2025. In results on Monday, it reported a €3.3bn hit to costs because of the cancelled hydrogen plan as well as plans to divert spending from electric to hybrid vehicles. The move comes after Mr Trump removed emissions-linked penalties for carmakers across the US. Stellantis had planned to launch a range of hydrogen vans this year under its Pro One division, which were poised to be built in France and Poland. However the plans were ditched after being deemed too 'niche' and expensive. The company's European operating chief, Jean-Philippe Imparato, said last week the hydrogen market had 'no prospects of mid-term economic stability'. The company is also reviewing its position in Symbio, a hydrogen fuel cell company in which it owns a 33pc stake. Stellantis is chaired by John Elkann, the grandson of Fiat scion Gianni Agnelli. The loss marks the first move by new chief executive Antonio Filosa, who Mr Elkann chose to replace former boss Carlos Tavares earlier this year. Trade war fallout Mr Trump's tariff blitz, which hit global carmakers with a 25pc rate, has sparked chaos around the world. The US is the world's largest importer of vehicles and Stellantis was forced to pause production at plants in Canada and Mexico as Mr Trump unleashed his trade war. Sales of cars in North America, its biggest market, are expected to drop by 25pc in the second quarter after Mr Trump began imposing tariffs on global trading partners. It warned that the 'early effects of US tariffs' would cost it around €300m. Stellantis suspended its financial guidance in April due to uncertainty caused by the trade war. Total revenues at the firm, which also owns Citroen and Jeep, were down 12.6pc to €74.3 over the first half of 2025. Shares in Stellantis fell by more than 3pc as markets opened on Monday. European sales falter as Chinese rivals surge Stellantis was also hit by a 6pc slump in volumes in Europe, where EV makers have found themselves battling an influx of cheaper Chinese brands such as BYD. The company has been battling to reverse its fortunes after Mr Tavares' department. Though widely credited with turning the carmaker's fortunes around in the latter years of the last decade and overseeing a mega-merger with Fiat Chrysler in 2019, Mr Tavares' departure came after the company was hit by a drastic fall in earnings, with critics alleging a lack of innovative new products, high prices and quality issues. A profit warning last September wiped 50pc of the value from Stellantis shares. The company is down almost 60pc over the last 12 months. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
US tariffs, laws push Jeep owner Stellantis into 2.3-bn-euro first-half net loss
Jeep owner Stellantis said on Monday it suffered a massive loss in the first half of the year, when it felt the first impact of new US tariffs and took a massive charge following a change in US laws. The 2.3-billion-euro ($2.7-billion) net loss in the first half of the year came as sales in North America continued to slump, down 25 percent by volume in the second quarter year-on-year. The carmaker, whose stable of brands also includes Peugeot, Citroen and Fiat, said first-half net revenues dropped 12.6 percent to 74.3 billion euros, according to the preliminary and unaudited results. Sales of vehicles fell by six percent in the second quarter year-on-year, after having dropped nine percent in the first three months of 2025. Stellantis said "the early effects of US tariffs" had a 300-million-euro negative impact and disrupted its plans to respond to its struggling performance in North America. Automakers have struggled to respond to a new US tariff of 25-percent on imported cars that are not largely made within North America. Stellantis fell into a net loss when it took a 3.3-billion-euro charge, which it said was "primarily related to programme cancellation costs and platform impairments, net impact of the recent legislation eliminating the CAFE penalty rate and restructuring". US President Donald Trump's massive tax and spending legislation, approved earlier this month, removed the penalties for not respecting the so-called CAFE fuel economy targets, meaning automakers can produce and sell more higher polluting cars in the United States. Stellantis suspended its financial guidance in April due to the heightened uncertainty generated by US tariffs. The company said it was in the early stage of taking action to improve performance and profitability, with new products expected to deliver a larger impact in the second half of 2025. Shares in Stellantis fell more than two percent as trading got underway on the Paris stock exchange. Stellantis said it would release audited first half results on July 29 as scheduled. eg-fmp/rl/gil Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Stellantis takes big tariffs hit
Stellantis says its sales in the quarter ended 30 June were hit by lower shipments in North America caused by the impact of import tariffs imposed by the US. Consolidated shipments for the three months ending June 30, 2025 were an estimated 1.4 million units, representing a 6% decline year-on-year, reflecting North American tariff-related production pauses early in the quarter, Stellantis said. In North America, Q2 shipments declined approximately 109,000 units compared to the same period in 2024, representing a 25% decline, due to factors including the reduced manufacture and shipments of imported vehicles, most impacted by tariffs, and lower fleet channel sales. In a preliminary report, Stellantis also projected a first half loss of €2.3 billion, but said that the second half of the year would see some uplift to profitability due to the arrival of new products at dealerships. European Q2 sales were down 6% versus the same quarter of last year, due 'primarily to product transition factors', the company said. Stellantis also said the recently-launched 'Smart Car' platform B-segment vehicles 'continue to ramp up to their full production levels, and prior year comparisons are affected by the hiatus of Fiat 500 ICE pending the arrival of its mild-hybrid successor'. Shipments of the four Smart Cars (Citroën C3 and C3 Aircross, Opel/Vauxhall Frontera and Fiat Grande Panda) increased 45% sequentially in the Q2 2025 period, or 25,000 units, compared to the Q1 2025 period, the company said. Consolidated shipments only include shipments by the Company's consolidated subsidiaries, which represent new vehicles invoiced to third party (dealers/importers or final customers). "Stellantis takes big tariffs hit" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
