A few months ago we told you that Sergio Marchionne, the boss of Fiat-Chrysler, was looking to get Ferrari to start building engines for Alfa Romeo, just like it does for Maserati.
During a conference call with analysts yesterday, following the announcement of Chrysler’s fourth quarter financial results, Marchionne confirmed Ferrari would be taking a more active role in engine development for Alfa Romeo.
And, according to Automotive News (subscription required), Marchionne also revealed that the deal between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo would be announced within a month.
Marchionne is also reported to have said that developing engines worthy of the Alfa Romeo brand was the biggest issue remaining with his turnaround plans for the Italian brand.
Marchionne is keen to see Alfa Romeo return to its roots of building desirable and sporty cars, but competing on the world stage against premium marques such as Audi.
The upcoming deal between Ferrari and Alfa Romeo is believed to center around the development of a new V-6 engine. This engine is expected to be similar to the twin-turbocharged and direct-injected 3.0-liter V-6 built by Ferrari for Maserati, and which develops a peak output of 410 horsepower and 376 pound-feet of torque in Maserati’s latest Quattroporte.
The likely recipients of the new engine are the 159-replacing Giulia sedan, new Alfa Romeo crossover and a range-topping sedan sharing its underpinnings with the upcoming Maserati Ghibli.
Alfa Romeo's planned 4C sports car and next-gen Mazda MX-5 clone will likely stick to four-cylinder engines.
Note, this won't be the first time in recent history that a Ferrari engine has powered an Alfa Romeo model. Alfa's stunning 8C Comptezione supercar was powered by a 4.5-liter V-8 engine engineered and built by the men and women in Maranello.
