Alfa Romeo has apparently been hiding stuff from us, as evidenced in these artist renderings. The Italian outfit owned by Fiat Group, is working at bringing MINI down to its knees with a second onslaught – after 500 – with something called MiTo, which is a combination of the names Milan and Turin (Torino to Italians).

MiTo, as opposed to 129 or 139, will run a turbo engine displacing 1.8-litres which is said to produce between 180 bhp/ 134kW and 230 bhp/ 172kW. We can look forward to a whole range of engines as well, starting from the useful 1.4 TJet Fiat family engine, as well as turbo diesel variants.

Although reports claim suspension is not as sophisticated as competitors, traditionally Alfas have been very strong in the handling department, if not elsewhere. Other additional models will include cabrios, a wagon, and maybe even a small SUV. Strong indications point to sales beginning towards the end of 2008 with gradual global rollouts running until 2009 for the first variation.

In case you haven’t noticed, Alfa Romeo is on an upward spiral and plans to introduce several new exciting models in the next 18 months. All we can say is: can we please get a GTA version of this MiTo as well!

Source: Windingroad

You can also read these articles:

• March 14, 2008 -- OFFICIAL: Alfa Romeo Mi.To First Images Released (2)
• February 29, 2008 -- Alfa Romeo hatch named MITO, launch after Geneva show (0)
• February 25, 2008 -- John Cooper Works MINI and Clubman (1)