Alfa’s sporty new Mini rival scooped

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Source: AutoCar

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Alfa Romeo is postponing the launch of a successor to the 147 to bring a new small hatchback to the market in 2008. The Junior, a revival of a famous Alfa name from the 60s, will compete in the increasingly crowded premium small car segment at the lower end of the European market.

Due in 2008, the new three-door model is aimed directly at the Mini Cooper and the upcoming Audi A1. It needs to significantly boost Alfa's sales to over 300,000 by the turn of the decade, when Alfa plans to re-enter the North American market as part of its centenary celebrations.

No official figures have been released, but sources suggest Alfa Romeo will be seeking volumes of around 80,000 annually over a six-year lifecycle for the Junior, which will us the same basic underpinnings as the Fiat Punto.

To free resources for the Junior, Alfa Romeo has postponed the replacement for the 147, the Fiat Bravo-based 149. Originally due to appear in 2008, it is now unlikely to find its way onto UK roads until 2009. Alfa will also serve up lighter, facelifted versions of the 159, Brera and Spider at the same time.

Despite the Junior name, company officials are quick to point out that the car’s price and market position are more similar to that of the Alfasud Ti. The Ti was Alfa's first mass-market front-wheel-drive model, launched in 1971.

In keeping with the Junior’s affordable price tag and Alfa Romeo’s sporting image, it will be produced as a three-door hatchback only. Responsibility for the car’s styling rests with Fiat’s Centro Stile studio headed up by Frank Stephenson, credited with the retro look of the Mini as well as next year’s new Maserati Coupe and the new Fiat 500.

Underneath is a lightly reworked version of the Punto’s front-wheel-drive platform and suspension – a combination of MacPherson struts up front and a torsion beam at the rear. The Fiat’s electric steering system will also be carried over. Extensive chassis tuning at Alfa Romeo’s Bolloco test track on the outskirts of Milan aims to provide the new car with its own distinct character. Among the benchmarks being used in the development of the new car is the Mini Cooper S.
 
Mmm, Alfa's going to be on a roll this year too eh? First the Brera last year and now this? Looks good to me, now bring it to America!
 
please god, let Junior be RWD, since only midgets would fit to that backseat.. thus there's no need for ergonomy there. :lol:
 
Nifty little car, eh? I'll be happy when I see it, and I look forward to comparing it with my "standard of the small-car market," the VW Golf.
 
I do find it amusing that a golf is considered a small car in the US.

Anyway I hope it doenst use much fiat technology as then it will be unreliable. Hold up what am I saying here Alfas are even more unreliable than fiats :lol:
 
Poverty
I do find it amusing that a golf is considered a small car in the US.
Click to expand...

Anything smaller would be close to suicide.

Hopefully there will be less and less large SUV's on the road once people realize ITS THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY AND THERE STILL ISNT ANY SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS BECAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING!

Ha....tell that to people in Colorado...sorry for the little rant.
 
the british winter has been really mild also, yet alot of GTPers say that there is no such thing as global warming and that its all natural....
 
The Golf/Rabbit being a relatively large car (especially compared to Mk. I) has less to do with SUVs and more to do with Interior room, and how people can't seem to get enough of it. even when they're not overweight.

and there are smaller cars in the U.S. market. Yaris. Fit. Aveo. and, the most powerful, Mini.
 
Poverty
I do find it amusing that a golf is considered a small car in the US.
Click to expand...

Well, should we say small-ish? The only cars that are smaller are going to be the Fit/Jazz, Versa/Tiida, and the like. And even then, they really aren't that much smaller than the Golf/Rabbit to begin with.

Car and Driver magazine made a good point a few months back when they pointed out that most of the "small cars" today are indeed about the same size as "mid size" cars from 20 years ago. It does explain a lot of things, and further solidifies my idea that the Fit is indeed the "True Civic" over at Honda...
 
It was all going so well until I read the proposed name.

As legendary as it may be, you're not going to impress anyone telling them you drive a "junior".
In fact, innapropriate jokes can be made out of it.
 
Nice idea, but that leaves quite a huge gap between the 8C and Junior. At least bring the Brera to smooth things out a bit. And the name is ridiculous. Alfa's reputation in the US is less than stellar. I can see not bringing back a great small-car name like "Giulia" (with all of them rusting here), but "Junior" implies something sub-Golf. Maybe even sub-Fit. Definitely a sub-par name.
 

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