Alfa MiTo baby, look at you now

It will carry the economy-sized burden of gathering a new generation of Alfisti. Developed off the Fiat Punto platform, the MiTo is a compact three-door coupe with a sports-orientated sexy fun factor ... just ask Alfa.

However, what it definitely is not is a spiritual successor to the Alfa Sud of the 1970s.

“The MiTo is a very strategically important vehicle for Alfa Romeo, but it is not the new Alfa Sud, despite all the talk about that,” says Alfa Romeo Australia's Edward Rowe.

“Firstly, the Alfa Sud was a Golf-sized car that was launched to compete against the Golf and the Sud has a straight-through lineage to today's 147 — a Golf-sized car.

“The other significant thing is the Alfa Sud was designed to compete with the Golf directly.

“It was a five-door hatch, there was a wagon version — it was a family five-door, five-seat hatchback that just happened to look cute and go around corners well.

“It was a thoroughly mainstream model built under instructions from the Italian government (which owned Alfa Romeo at that time) to be Italy's answer to the Golf. Obviously the 147 has strayed away from the Golf competitor role a little but essentially that is still where it sits.”

The MiTo, Rowe says, will compete in the hottest sector of the European market; the super-mini sector that sits directly below the Golf, Audi A3, Astra or 1 Series BMW style cars.

“That segment is rapidly becoming Europe's number one market sector,” Rowe says. “It is very important for Alfa Romeo to have a model in that sector, but that doesn't mean going after the mass-market buyers in the sector.

“The part of the sector that is growing isn't the mass-market section, the Polos, C3s and so on, it is the premium end of that market where people are coming down from the sectors above and want something cute, sexy and performance-oriented with all the fruit and gear. A smaller version of the cars they have been driving in the past.”

Alfa Romeo importers Ateco Automotive hope to have the MiTo on sale in Australia by the middle of next year with an entry price around $30,000 moving up to the $35,000 range for the higher-end models.

“The details are still being worked out but I would imagine we would take the top petrol engine, a 115kW turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol unit, the 90kW [320Nm] 1.6-litre JTDM diesel and possibly a smaller petrol engine as an entry-level car,” Rowe says. “The gearbox choices will be a six-speed manual and a Selespeed and the specification levels will be high.”

Rowe stresses the MiTo is not a family car and will target a youth-oriented audience.

“It is targetting a much younger market than the traditional Alfa Romeo market. It is firmly aimed at the 20-30 age bracket. Even the naming is aimed at the younger buyers. It is almost `X-speak' ... a contraction of two longer words, Milan and Turin [Torino].”

Alfa has already hinted at a rush of further technological additions for the MiTo after its initial launch.

Fiat has shown a hot version of the little turbo petrol engine that has been re-fettled to produce a storming 150kWs.

There are also suggestions that a convertible version of the car could be available within a year while the Multiair electronically controlled valve lift system and the Fiat's version of the double-clutch automatic, the DDCT, are reportedly already slated for the MiTo.

As with many small cars now, the MiTo was engineered to obtain maximum Euro NCAP safety rating and has a full suite of electronic driving aids including non-switchable dynamic stability control, MSR to prevent wheels locking during over-run and dynamic steering torque (DST).

The MiTo comes standard with seven airbags, three-point seatbelts with pretensioners and load limit limiters and active head restraints.

In-cabin comfort and refinement includes premium MP3 sound and the multi-functionality of the Blue&Me device. That is a system developed in conjunction with Microsoft that offers hands-free operation with a Bluetooth interface and advanced voice recognition, USB port, MP3 player and SMS interpreter.

SNAPSHOT

ALFA ROMEO MiTo

Price: from $30,000 (estimate)

Engine: 1.4L/4-cylinder turbo; 1.6L/4-cylinder turbo diesel

Transmission: 6-speed manual, Selespeed auto

Rivals: Mini, Fiat 500, Peugeot 207 GTi

On sale: July 2009