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The Alfa Romeo Mito was the Biscione's first and only B-segment car, at least until the arrival of the Junior , the small SUV born as the Milano and available with both mild hybrid and electric powertrain. Many see connections between the two models , with the Junior representing the direct successor to the Mito. To disagree is Juan Manuel Díaz , Argentine designer 'father' of the small car produced from 2008 to 2018.
'It is poorly executed', he told our colleagues at Motor1 Argentina some time ago, referring to the Junior. It was a full-throated defence for what was Díaz's great creation: the first car to bear his signature, capable of selling almost 300,000 units in 10 years and with a design inspired by one of the most beautiful Alfa cars ever: the 8C Competizione . We now know that like the Maserati-based sports car, the Mito could also have become a cabrio.
Marchionne's 'no Díaz has in fact revealed how at the time an Alfa Romeo Mito cabrio was designed and built as a concept, very similar to the classic version, with a retractable canvas roof and four seats. The Argentinean designer told the story on his social profiles: "Yes, there was a project for a Mito Cabrio, but (Sergio) Marchionne (CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles at the time, ed.) did not see a market for this model.
Marchione's vision went elsewhere and was very broad. And the range was short..
. There was not enough money to complete the range. Alfa 's problem was always marketing: the SUV Kamal was ready for production in 2006, but the project was cancelled thinking that the SUV trend was over.
" An Alfa Romeo Mito Cabrio would have been able to compete with rivals such as the Mini Cabrio , currently in production, the DS 3 Cabrio and even larger models such as the Audi A3 Cabrio . Returning to the Mito/Junior parallel, we quote what Diaz told Motor1 Argentina during an interview last April. 'The Alfa Romeo Junior is positioned as the successor to the Mito at the marketing level.
But it is actually a car in a different segment: it is bigger. When we were designing the original Mito we proposed an SUV of this size , to offer a five-door alternative. Sergio Marchionne, then CEO of FCA, did not give the go-ahead because he said it would not be successful in this.
Well, he was wrong. But Marchionne has been right at many other junctures. But hey, the car is there, the Junior product is good, Alfa Romeo needs it: it is positioned in a segment that Alfa Romeo must preside over, and obviously, doing it on a platform already used by Peugeot, Opel, Jeep and Fiat cuts production costs a lot.
But you have to be careful about two things: this is a segment that the Chinese are entering very strongly in Europe and around the world, with vehicles equipped with better technology than the Europeans. Here I am not just talking about Alfa Romeo products or Stellantis, I am talking on a European level: the Chinese have better technology. The success or otherwise of a car is decided by the market.
The Mito was a smaller car that could attract future Alfisti. It was a cheaper car, costing almost half as much as the Junior. Today, with the European economic crisis, I don't know if the typical customer of the Junior is the same as in the days of the Mito.
Speaking of design, Alfa Romeo is a brand that does not need ornamentation. It is a car that must be defined by the Trilobo, the central grille and the two side air intakes. On the Junior the Trilobo is almost blurred.
There is an attempt at modernity, at breaking away, which looks interesting, but is poorly executed. You have to see it on the road: the front has too many parts and too many false air intakes. I think of those details as something that is not premium, that doesn't convey quality.
When you start making holes and eventually cover them with plastic, not all of them come out well. In general, the front end, in this case, looks a bit exaggerated to me. I also don't like the proportions, there's the same problem as with the Tonale: a front that's not there and the side that's not very expressive.
Alfa Romeo was also characterised by always having a 'shoulder' on the rear wing, here (on the Junior) the shoulder is very small. The rear of the Junior looks completely anonymous to me. There are photos of a Vinfast car produced two years ago and belonging to the same segment as the Junior, and they are quite similar.
But once again, the market will be in charge. More from Alfa Romeo:.
