Sell-out of Aston Martin and Red Bull “hypercar”

Aston Martin and Red Bull claim that all 150 road-going versions of the duo’s “ultimate hypercar”, the AM-RB 001, have been sold, together with a further 25 track-only models.

Flat trading for Fiat

Fiat Group achieved revenues of €19.8 billion on the back of worldwide shipments of more than 1 million vehicles. Group revenues were 2 per cent lower in nominal terms but flat over the prior year at constant exchange rates.

Trading profit came in at €618 million – this compares with €806 million for Q1 2012. Net industrial debt increased to €7.1 billion (from €6.5 billion at year-end 2012) due to seasonal cash absorption for Fiat, but excluding Chrysler. It was partially offset by cash generation for Chrysler. Liquidity was strong at over €21 billion.

The U.S. vehicle market closed Q1 2013 up 6% to 3.75 million vehicles. The Group's overall market share rose to 11.4%. Jeep vehicle sales totalled 101,000 for the quarter, down 12% year-over-year, primarily due to the phase-out of the Jeep Liberty, pending the production launch of the all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee in Q2 2013, and a 12% decline for the Grand Cherokee attributable to changeover to the new 2014 model.

Maserati goes diesel

Maserati has given further endorsement to VM Motori’s 3-litre V6 diesel engine by offering it as an alternative to a 3-litre V6 gasoline engine with an output of 410bhp.

It will be the first time the Italian automaker has offered a diesel variant. The diesel will be installed in the Ghibli, a four-door saloon that will be revealed at next week’s Shanghai Auto Show.

As readers will be aware, the V6 diesel has a compacted graphite iron (CGI) cylinder block and bedplate. The engine is already offered in the Chrysler Jeep Grand Cherokee and the Dodge Ram 1500, as well as the Lancia Thema.