2008-2018 Alfa Romeo MiTo: The Neat Little Car that Couldn’t

2014 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Verde

Less than 10 years ago, compact cars seemed to be all the rage in the United States. Just some of the names; Corolla, Dart, Cruize, Focus, Civic and others seemed to leapfrog each other with improved quality and driving dynamics. Over time the market swung away from small cars to crossovers tightening the remaining competition. Those left standing were forced to step it up or get out of the small car business.

In the meantime, America continues to love going big and remembered it didn’t care much for small cars anyway, further diverging from Europe. Across the Atlantic, small cars had been refined since the end of WWII out of necessity and had gone in directions Americans would never consider with a small car: the ideal of one being premium. It’s been tried here, but attempts by BMW, Mercedes and others failed, resulting in Yanks missing out on the supermini trend in Europe with cars like Alfa Romeo’s MiTo.

Fiat 500

Super minis are very small, the closest we got to them here were the occasional Toyota Yaris or recently departed Mazda2. Needless to say in America, those cars were considered bare bones entry level products. In Europe, it was possible to get a supermini that you would want to be seen in (nothing against the sorely missed Mazda2). Aston Martin even sold a tarted up version of a Toyota supermini called the Cygnet. Sure the Mini and Golf were available in the U.S., but those compact cars represented the small end of a how far Americans were willing to go in a near premium car (that we considered small). Except for the Fiat 500, we had nothing quite like the Alfa Romeo’s MiTo.

The Fiat 500, a close relative to the MiTo, was cute, but only attractive to gearheads in Abarth 500 guise. Though, the few Fiat gearheads I know (all 2 of them), only care about cars like the 124 Spyder or X1/9. The 500 gets a certain amount of disdain from them. Had the Alfa equivalents like the MiTobeen sold in America it might have been enjoyed a warmer welcome as it could be seen as a continuation of the legacy left by the Alfetta GT or GTV6.

Unfortunately, Alfa’s MiTo would never be sold in America, although it shared some distant DNA with products like the recently departed Dodge Dart. The MiTo’s beginnings are complicated by a shared platform with Opel called the GM Fiat Small platform. That should have been a starting point for good thing as a few great Punto and Corsas use the platform.  The econocar platform may have been why the sharp looking MiTo never quite lived up to its famous badge.

Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Verde side profile

Like many things that are good to you, but not for you like soda or candy, Italian cars appeal to the soul with passionate design. The MiTo is no different in that its passionate lines link it to a long and storied history that is not limited to expensive Ferraris or Maserati’s. Alfa Romeo once sold neat little cars in America that won the hearts of buyers looking for something different that was efficient and fun to drive. Unfortunately, Alfas did not always garner the reputation for reliability – one of the reasons they left the American market in the early ‘90s.

Instead of staging a comeback to America with an affordable small car, Alfa decided to have a protracted launch with it’s expensive, but beautiful 8C Competizione flagship.

The MiTo named by committee, to honor Alfa Romeo’s Milan design and Torino manufacturing heritage was only available as a two-door hatchback, an interesting choice considering the car’s role in Alfa line up. The coupe form factor certainly plays on Alfa’s sports car heritage as much as the design cues borrowed from the 8C. Those cues like the classic triangular grille and circular tail lights didn’t always scale well onto the smaller and more practical silhouette of the MiTo. The grille in particular looks too small, imparting the look of weakness. Perhaps the vulnerability was what Alfa’s designers were looking for as the big lights making the car look friendly and inviting.  It’s a mixed visual metaphor that works mostly in the MiTo’s favor.

2015 Alfa Romeo MiTo QV

Flared fenders and a lowered roofline that slopes backward give the car a muscular sporty appearance, perhaps more fitting of a Alfa Romeo. The design is conflicted in ways that give it tension – the battle between the usual Alfa sexiness and entry level practicality of it’s corporate masters makes for some interesting viewing angles. While the MiTo could not be considered a sports car, it’s top performance variant the Quadrifoglio Verde makes an impressive 170 hp from a 1.4 liter. Other variants of the car include other configurations of the 1.4, a super small 0.9 liter two cylinder, and of course that most European of engine types, a  1.3 or 1.6-litre diesel.

2009 Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4

With so many powertrain options the MiTo is sure to have different personalities, from the econocar 78 hp and up.  Where this Alfa goes wrong is where many modern Alfas seem to falter – fit and finish issues. According to various European press sources the MiTo lags in comfort, refinement, technology. Even lower cost cars like the VW Polo and Ford Fiesta have better fit/finish and road manners. The only category where the MiTo is average or above is it’s driving position. Against cars like the Audi A1 and Mini, the MiTo was hopelessly crude in driving dynamics and items that were increasingly important to near luxury buyers like infotainment and creature comforts. On top of that the MiTo’s running costs are significantly higher than the competition.

Alfa Romeo MiTo interior

With all that said, the MiTo’s appeal was clearly in its design. It was cute without looking childlike, endearing it more to the heart than the mind. While it lags in many factors there still must be something said for owning a small Alfa with the practicality of a hatch. A lot of buyers no doubt felt the same way as sales skyrocketed early peaking in 2009 at over 62,000 units. After that, sales gradually dropped to a low of just over 9,000 units in the final year of production in 2018.

MiTo has some mechanical similarities to Fiat’s 500, a once popular car that had a similar sales trajectory (and was sold in America). The MiTo would have sold better in The States than the cute/ugly Fiat 500. It would have done so by appealing to more car-oriented buyer who saw cars as something more than a fashion accessory (the perceived image of Fiat 500 buyers). Those buyers might have graduated to a Giulietta sedan (or Stelvio) in a perfect world. Being that MCA wanted Fiat to be its entry level European offering, a small hatchback like the MiTo likely did not fit Alfa’s US plans to market itself as a BMW alternative. Of course, now BMW and Audi offer smaller cars in the US market. With the MiTo’s production wrapping up in 2018, Alfa Romeo has nothing to sell in America that slots below the Giulietta. That may be the case in Europe also as the company looks to focus more on SUVs and crossovers.

It’s been more than 30 years since the last 164s rolled off the loading docks in America. Alfa Romeo made interesting cars then, but had serious quality issues. If the MiTo and Giulietta are any indication, the company still has its work cut out for it. More importantly, if the folks in Turin cannot change Alfa Romeo’s reputation of poor quality, they might have to pull out of America again. And who knows if the would ever come back?

2014 Alfa Romeo Quadrifoglio Verde