Alfa Romeo Mito 2013 News

As the Australian car sales race heads into the final quarter lap for 2013, most eyes are on what will be the top car. But further back in the field, there’s been a big improvement for several European models, which are posting sales lifts of up to 1000 per cent as a result of aggressive price cuts.Leading the charge is Fiat’s 500 which was slashed more than $10,000 in June, and now starts at just $14,000. This resulted in 310 buyers last month, compared to just 86 before the price drop. The little Italian car has increased in sales at the rate of 850 per cent every month since June, in a market that shrank by almost 15 per cent.Fiat as a whole is benefiting too, with the 1765 sales so far this year being more than a 500 per cent increase over the 328 at this stage in 2012. While the Fiat 500 is attracting customers, established competitors like the Holden Barina, Nissan Micra, Suzuki Alto and Swift and Toyota Yaris have meanwhile seen a decline in sales year-to-date.This means that for the first time, the 500 is outselling more than half its competitors. Meanwhile, Alfa Romeo’s small models, which also received price cuts recently, have returned positive results – albeit on fairly low numbers. MiTo has doubled in sales in the premium light car segment from 23 to 45, while its larger sibling, Giulietta – in a field that includes the Toyota Corolla, Holden Cruze and Mazda 3, found 324 new homes compared to just 88 before the new pricing strategy.The local HQ says the surge in sales is due to sharper pricing and specifications and more dealership support. “The success is a result of a combination of factors: an expanded and engaged dealer network, streamlined vehicle spec levels and sharper pricing – as well as strong and smart marketing support,” Fiat and Alfa Romeo spokesperson Karla Leach says.With the international launch of the new Alfa Romeo 4C sport car this week – estimated to cost somewhere around $75,000 when it arrives here -- the Italian brand is buckling up for the challenge of luring customers with a few more dollars to spend. Leach says Fiat and Alfa Romeo have serious intentions to keep strengthening their position here. “We have strong ambition for the continued growth of these brands in Australia,” she says. But it’s not just Italians aggressively tackling the entry level market.Renault last month introduced the cheapest Clio ever, firmly cementing the French brand into the budget light car segment with an entry-level price of under $17,000. Keen to be seen as a viable alternative, Renault has hit hard at competitors, offering five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty and fixed price servicing. Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar said at the Clio unveiling last month that the brand has high expectations of the car.“We have a fantastic value proposition in terms of a beautifully designed vehicle with high levels of personalisation, at an extremely competitive price.” he said. Traditional options like Mazda, Hyundai and Toyota still dominate the light and small car segments, but European rivals are fighting hard to gain credibility as mainstream brands.The big winners are the buyers, who may now afford to consider Italian design, French flair or German precision for the same price as more established mainstream manufacturers. The exception to the success story is Opel, which failed to accrue enough buyers in its very short stint in Australia. Despite competitive prices, the German brand disappeared in August, posting less than 1,000 sales this year between the Astra and Corsa small cars combined. 

Alfa Romeo’s tiny MiTo hatchback currently comes exclusively as a three-door -- and competes with other premium light models such as the Audi A1 and MINI Cooper hatch. Although the Alfa Romeo brand returns to US shores later this year, the MiTo won’t be making the trip as the car’s design is already several years old and predicted demand in the has been deemed too low. The good news is that a successor is planned and that it may add extra models. The information comes from Car and Driver, which reports that the next-generation MiTo will enter production around 2016 and will likely spawn more body styles including a possible crossover variant. The key is utilising the platform underpinning the Fiat 500L, which can accommodate all-wheel drive and crossover designs. In fact, this platform will soon spawn subcompact crossovers for Fiat and even Jeep.    Engines would also be shared with Fiat products, with the entry-level option being a turbocharged two-cylinder engine rated at roughly 74kW, and the range-topper getting a turbocharged four-cylinder unit with around 150kW on tap (the current MiTo develops between 62 and 125kW). There’s even talk of a plug-in hybrid model. www.motorauthority.com

Alfa sold 73 cars in Australia last month and 587 in the year up to July 31, almost 100 down on the same time in 2009. The brand is struggling with an uneven and ageing lineup — ancient in the case of the 147 hatch which is as old as the century. The GT coupe (based the 147 and the dead for five years 156) is in runout. The 159 had one of its worst ever months with just 14 sales in July, while the Spider and Brera move as few as one or two units each a month. While the MiTo, long held back by its non-choice of manual transmission, gets the Fiat group's TCT twin clutch auto by year's end, Alfa's crucial — as in simply must not fail — Giulietta reaches local showrooms in December.  Australia is taking two models for now; the 1.4 MultiAir and the Cloverleaf with a 1750cc direct injection turbo petrol engine that Alfa Australia have so far been unable to secure at a realistic price in the 159. There will be a choice of six speed manual or TCT transmissions. The Q2 electronic differential is standard. Though ostensibly a 147 replacement, the Giulietta is appreciably bigger. And though considered a rival to Volkswagen's Golf in Europe — where the MultiAir model, in particular, has been well-received — spokesman for importer Ateco, Edward Rowe, says it will be marketed as a prestige hatch against Audi's A3 and BMW's 1 Series. These start in the mid- to high $30K range up to more than $50,000. Reports indicate that the Giulia, the 159's replacement, will debut at next year's Frankfurt Motor Show and would be likely to reach Australia in the second half of 2012.

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 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 .” 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