Facelifted Alfa Romeo Mito launched

The Alfa Romeo Mito has been updated, and is now on sale in the UK.

The Mito, which is now the oldest car in the Alfa Romeo line-up, has been given a styling refresh, including new grilles, revised rear bumpers and new alloy wheel designs.

Under the bonnet, the 1.3-litre JTDM-2 diesel engine has been updated to provide improved performance and lower CO2 emissions; Alfa claims 94bhp and 89g/km for the engine.

The specs of the Mito have been updated, too; some trim levels on the car now match those of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Alfa Romeo Giulia, with the entry-level trim taking no name but the model name, followed by Super, Speciale and Veloce.

The entry-level car now gets a driving mode selector and a 5.0in touchscreen infotainment display with Bluetooth and DAB radio as standard.

Alfa’s range-topping Quadrifoglio Verde trim on the Mito has been replaced by Veloce. This leaves a space at the top end of the range for an Audi S1-rivalling Mito Quadrifoglio, as the brand continues to push its performance-oriented Giulia and Stelvio Quadrifoglio models, the latter of which will be revealed at the Paris motor show.

The hottest version of the Mito is the 168bhp, £20,500 Veloce 1.4 Multiair. When equipped with Alfa’s paddle-operated TCT transmission, the car gets to 62mph in 7.3sec, on the way to 136mph; that's only 0.4sec and 3mph slower than a Ford Fiesta ST, although the Mito is more than £2600 more expensive.

A full-fat Quadrifoglio hot hatch would be positioned closer to an Audi S1 in terms of price and performance, although it’s unclear if this is on the cards; there’s no Quadrifoglio-badged Giulietta.

The car’s name badge now bears the same script as the Giulia and Giulietta too, suggesting that Alfa is trying to make its range more cohesive.

The new Mito now starts from £12,960, and is already available to order. Range-topping Veloce trim starts at £17,110 with the two-cylinder 875cc Twinair engine.