The new Alfa could be called Giulietta
This is the first official picture of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, an all-new replacement for the ageing 147 hatchback, due for launch in Italy next March.
Alfa is aiming its new model squarely at the heart of VW Golf territory, and bosses hope to make the new five-door hatch the best-selling car in Alfa's history, with ambitions of upwards of 100,000 sales a year.
The new Alfa Giulietta takes its design cues both from the outgoing 147, with its coupe-like roofline and hidden rear doorhandles, and from the Mito supermini, with the large round headlights and prominent shield-shaped grille.
The car looks long and low, but its length (130mm longer than a Golf) is deceptive - it's actually 50mm taller than the old 147. 16in, 17in, or 18in wheels will be available with a choice of alloy wheel designs that includes the classic Alfa 'telephone dial'.
Under the skin are MacPherson struts up front, with a multi-link set-up at the back, while the engines will all be turbocharged four-cylinder efforts (both petrol and diesel), most of which will use Fiat's Multiair electro-hydraulic valve technology. For now, the top engine is a 170bhp turbodiesel, but a hot 230bhp Cloverleaf version is due towards the end of 2010.
As for the name, the new car was originally going to be called the Alfa Romeo Milano, but Milanese workers unhappy about Alfa moving its headquarters from Milan to Turin have made that name politically sensitive in Italy - hence the revival of the Giulietta moniker.
The new Giulietta is currently pencilled in for a UK launch next summer at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.