Alfa Romeo's 'Lotus' is coming to Australia

The stunning Alfa Romeo 8C never made it to Australia, but its younger offspring will.

The Italian car maker will revive its sportscar image with a more affordable, scaled-down version of its V8-powered, quarter-million-dollar supercar called the 4C.

Moments after the unveiling at Frankfurt motor show overnight, Alfa Romeo CEO Harald J Wester told media the 4C was a global vehicle.

"If Australia is still part of the world in 2013, so it should be on sale there," he said.

The 4C is a lightweight fun machine powered by a 1.8-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine nestled behind the driver and passenger seats.

It is Alfa Romeo's challenger to the Lotus Exige, Porsche Cayman and Audi TT – yet will undercut the competition by a significant margin.

The importer of Alfa Romeo in Australia, Neville Crichton, told motoring.com.au: "It's definitely coming, we hope to be able to bring it in for significantly less than $100,000. We're aiming to get it to Australia for between $60,000 and $70,000."

He said it was likely to go on sale in Europe by 2013 and in Australia and other right-hand-drive markets in 2014.

The relative affordability (compared to its likely rivals) comes despite the fact that the 4C is made of expensive, lightweight materials. Most of the body and structure will be made from aluminium and carbon-fibre.

The company claims the production car will stay true to the concept vehicle's weight of just 850kg – less than a Suzuki Alto (which weighs 880kg).

This is why the relatively small "150kW-plus" 1.8 turbo engine – backed by a quick-shifting twin-clutch transmission – will be able to deliver brisk performance, 0-100km/h in 5.0 seconds or less, the company says.

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