1970 Fiat 500 on 2040-cars

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Four-horse race opens up for next Chrysler-Fiat CEO

There are some companies that could change leadership overnight and still remain more or less the operations that they are. But some have built themselves up around one central figure. Just ask Carlos Tavares, who found he couldn't escape the long shadow of Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. Tavares recently left to find his own limelight. But Ghosn isn't the only executive who presides over two disparate automakers on opposite ends of the globe.
Having built up Fiat and Chrysler around himself, we can hardly imagine either automaker getting along without Sergio Marchionne. But the day will come when the famously sweater-clad bigwig will step down. The pressing questions remain when when that day will come, and who will take his place. The only solid clues we have are in the statements made mostly by Marchionne himself, but those statements have been all over the place. When speaking to Automotive News in 2012, he said he would step down "no earlier than 2013, no later than 2015." But a year later, he had already seemingly changed his tune, indicating he could still be at the helm in 2016. Fiat chairman John Elkann seems to think Marchionne, 61, could and should stay on longer.

Ram 700 by Fiat may be the small truck we've been waiting for

It seems like auto buyers throughout the whole world outside of the United States and Canada have a plethora of small pickups to choose from to fit their needs. In fact, there's one just south of the border that might be perfect for many American consumers - the 2015 Ram 700.
The little, front-wheel-drive pickup is a badge-engineered version of the Fiat Strada, which is also sold in Mexico. The powertrain is limited to a 1.6-liter four-cylinder making 115 horsepower and 119 pound-feet of torque with a five-speed manual gearbox. However, buyers can choose between either a two-door, two-passenger body or a three-door, four-person version (pictured above and right) that's also available with a locking front differential. While the 700 isn't big, the two-door version still offers a cargo capacity of up to 1,554 pounds, and opting for the three-door still allows for 1,433 pounds of goods.
Prices for these little trucks aren't bad either. The two-door is priced at 182,900 Mexican pesos ($13,576 at current rates), while 241,900 pesos ($17,955) gets customers the three-door.

Fiat 500 Fiore Rosa is Italian-Japanese cute-overload fusion

If you live in Japan and you want to get something for your special someone for Valentine's Day, then slow dance down to your Fiat dealer and check out the Fiat 500 Fiore Rosa. A holiday special, the pale metallic pink Cinquecento is limited to 150 examples and only on sale from February 14-17. But beware the connotations, because as far as we can glean from Google Translate, the 500 Fiore Rosa is a bargain model, getting halogen lights instead of bi-xenons, manual air-con instead of climate control, 14-inch steel wheels instead of 15-inch alloys, and going without chrome trim, glass roof, parking sensors and alarm.
It's fitted with the TwinAir engine and gets the same price as the regular 500 TwinAir, however - 2,200,000 yen ($23,559 US). Other than the special name, we can't figure out where the 500 Fiore Rosa is hiding its treats, especially because it gets the el-cheapo wheel covers of the 500 Pop fitted with the 1.2-liter engine instead of the 500 TwinAir wheels. But if you want to make a statement, it's there. And we're talking to the women of Japan, because apparently they're the ones who buy the gifts on Valentine's day in Nippon.