In a year’s time, most probably at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Alfa Romeo will unveil the successor to its 147 compact sport hatch that has been in the market since 2000 having received a facelift in 2004. The 149 will be available in 3door and 5door variants and it will compete in the premium compact hatch segment against the Audi A3 and BMW 1-Series. Using an official sketch of the 149 that Alfa Romeo released last year as a base, Italian car magazine Quattroruote created a set of renderings to give us an idea of how the sport hatch could look like.

There’s no way of telling how close the renderings are to the final product that we’ll see in 2009, but from what we’ve been told by Alfa Romeo sources, the 149 will indeed borrow several design cues from the 8c Competizione as Quattroruote’s sketches imply.

The 149 will be based on a modified version of the Fiat Bravo platform and according to Alfa Romeo, it will feature a multi-link rear suspension and Active Roll Control. Power will come from a wide range of petrol and diesel units including a base 120 HP 1.4-liter Turbo gasoline engine and a 265 HP 3.2-liter V6 unit for the top-notch GTA version that will compete with the Audi S3 and BMW 135i.