We’ve all been awaiting for the slow trickle of Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars FCA plans to announce. These cars will not only be introduced in the U.S., but will revitalize both brands globally. We’ve so far enjoyed the Alfa Romeo 4C hitting our streets, and we’ll soon get its Spider version later this summer, but next up on Alfa’s block isn’t another sexy sports car … it’s an SUV.
In an interview conducted by Automotive News, Reid Bigland Head of Alfa Romeo in North America stated that a new D-segment sedan is set to be revealed in Milan on June 24 and that the vehicle will be set to debut in the U.S. at the beginning of next year.
“I’m confident that it’s going to blow your Italian socks off when you look at the specifications associated with this vehicle,” Bigland said.
There’s no information in particular about what the specifications would be, but as Alfa Romeo is supposed to be the sportier brand, we can expect something with dynamic driving in mind. Bigland seems to back this up by saying initially, its most direct segment rivals would be car like the BMW 3 Series or the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
Bigland then intimates that a higher-performing trim would shortly be offered to compete with vehicles like the Porsche Macan.
This falls in line with FCA’s plan to roll out eight new vehicles for Alfa by 2018. While this doesn’t sound like the most exciting car to wear an Alfa badge, it does fall in line with the latest trend in luxury automakers heavily investing in luxury SUVs and crossovers.
Either way, we’re curious to see what Alfa has in store for us and we look forward to learning more as soon as we can.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.