No company is more open about its future plans than Alfa Romeo…

And the firm has done it again, this time revealing first official pictures and details of its new executive hatchback.

The 149 will go on sale early in 2009, aimed at rivalling premium three and five-doors such as Audi’s A3. It will be priced from around £20,000. These low-quality images on an official Alfa document show the newcomer will build on the distinctive shape of the current 147.

Hoping to attract buyers in the 27 to 40-year-old age group, the 149 will be around 4.3 metres long and come with a wide range of engines.

Basic variants will get 120bhp, while the four-wheel-drive GTA will provide 265bhp as Alfa bids to take on Subaru’s next-generation Impreza STi and Mitsubishi’s Lancer Ralliart. Drivers are set to benefit from multi-link rear suspension, plus technology to improve body control when cornering.

Before the 149 arrives, the firm will launch its new small hatchback in summer 2008. The Junior, which will be around four metres long, will cost from around £13,000 and rival the MINI.

The two new hatches will be followed by a new luxury 169 in the summer of 2009, then the next 159 in the autumn of the same year. An SUV called CXover arrives in 2010.