Images of an Alfa 'Junior' prototype have broken cover on the internet today, offering a first tantalising glimpse of this important new project which is expected to debut at the Geneva Motor Show next March.

Marchionne also told ANE yesterday that his previous interest in buying the Land Rover and Jaguar brands that Ford has recently put up for sale was partly motivated by the forthcoming Alfa Romeo stateside relaunch. He was interested at the time in Land Rover's US distribution network and Jaguar's architecture and powertrains. He said that both under Fiat ownership would have been used to the benefit of Alfa Romeo.

"At the same time, we felt we would not be able to manage the Jaguar and Land Rover brands while also leading the proper execution of the Fiat Group Automobiles re-launch plan," he commented.

However, Marchionne has denied talks have broken down. Forbes quoted him as telling reporters yesterday: "The talks with Daimler go forward, as with other constructors. Daimler has never denied officially to have interrupted its contacts with us, it is a newspaper that has written that." At the same time, Reuters was more non-committal about the talks, reporting the Fiat boss as saying: "If (the talks) break off, we have lots of alternatives, from internal development to working with others."

"That would be my dream," Antonio Baravalle, chief executive of the Italian sportscar maker, told Reuters at Frankfurt's international autoshow. "Small, compact, very low, only for two people -- exactly like the Duetto was back then."