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Shoppers hit the mall, test-drive a Fiat

The showroom for Indiana's first Fiat dealership sits next to a Johnny Rockets restaurant and across from the children's play area in the Greenwood Park Mall in Reenwood, Ind. O'Brien Fiat's indoor Fiat Studio surprised passer-by Kyle Roberts of Franklin, Ind.: "I haven't really seen a car dealership in a mall before," says Roberts, who went into the store with his wife, Mandy, to look at the four Fiat 500s on display. Would Roberts consider buying one of the cars?

2011 LA Design Challenge entries revealed

As the Los Angeles Auto Show rapidly approaches, the 8th international Design Challenge has been announced. Inviting studios from across the globe to compete, previous years have seen concepts created for environmentally conscious briefs that called for sub-1000lb vehicles through to ‘Motorsport 2025' concepts that reinterpreted motor racing in the semi-distant future. This year sees six design studios turning to the silver screen and creating the next ‘A-list automobile', those being: Honda Research and Development Americas, Inc; Hyundai Design North America; Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America inc.

Fiat and Chrysler to completely merge?

Chrysler Group and Fiat Group's auto division could become a single company based in the United States, Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne told an industry conference here Friday. That won't happen until after Chrysler refinances the government loans that have kept if from being profitable and holds an initial public offering, both of which Marchionne hopes will happen this year. "From a corporate governance standpoint, there's a point where separate companies make no sense.