Currently reading: Updated: new Alfa Milano pics
Full details of the 147 replacement revealed in last week's spy pictures

New spy pictures of the Alfa Romeo Milano have emerged, again showing the car in the factory where it is being produced.

The Alfa Milano will be unveiled at next year's Geneva motor show, and will use the same C-Evo platform as the upcoming 157 replacement, the Giulia.

The Milano's platform is a shorter version of the chassis destined for the Giulia.

See the Alfa Romeo Milano picture gallery here

Click here to read 'Full details: Alfa Romeo Giulia'

One of the most striking aspects of the car’s front end is the lack of ornamentation; it has no chrome edging on the mesh air intakes, as seen on the Mito. And in traditional Alfa style, the number plate is offset to the left of the shield grille.

At the rear the Milano uses a light arrangement reminiscent of the 159 saloon’s for a more mature look than the Mito’s circular rear lights. The shape of the rear window provides a link between the Milano and the 147.

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The Milano will be available as a five-door only, leaving the Mito to fill the role of the small three-door Alfa Romeo. The Milano will revive the concealed rear door handle of the 156 to give the car the appearance of a three-door, however.

The car’s dimensions will be very similar to those of the Fiat Bravo. At around 4350mm long, 1800mm wide and 1430mm high, it’s slightly shorter, wider and lower than the Fiat, but it has a longer wheelbase to help maintain interior space.

Inside there’s an all-new design language for the car’s dash and fascia, with a sweeping one-piece coloured insert dominating the view. Although the position of the controls gives away the Fiat Bravo architecture that sits behind the fascia, Alfa seems to have convincingly disguised the Milano’s origins.

Switchgear has been pared down to a minimum, with a row of cleanly styled toggle switches below the stereo controlling ancillaries such as the fog lights and central locking. The air vents are all new, too, helping to make the car feel more bespoke. A new satellite navigation system with a three-dimensional perspective will be offered with the Milano.

Power will come from Alfa’s 1.4-litre MultiAir units with 135bhp and 165bhp, as well as the 1.8 T-Jet turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engines with 235bhp and 265bhp. Diesels will include the 120bhp 1.6 and a pair of 2.0-litre units with 170bhp and 220bhp. Transmissions will be either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic.

A GTA version is inevitable. It’s likely to use a tuned version of the 2.0-litre petrol four-pot hooked up to a four-wheel drive transmission (in the Milano the Q4 system will probably be restricted to the GTA model).

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The Milano will be officially unveiled at the Geneva motor show next March, with sales starting in the summer. The Giulia will surface towards the end of 2011, although sales may not start in the UK until 2012.

 

Dan Stevens

 

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