Alfa Romeo cans MiTo hatchback

If there’s one thing we’ll remember about this global economic crisis, it’s got to be the number of would-be vehicles that were stopped dead on its tracks without even seeing the light of showrooms. The latest to bite the dust is the MiTo GTA, Alfa Romeo’s road-going version of the same concept vehicle that was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show last March. The culprit, as we can all suspect by now, is the financial crisis.

Such sad times, isn’t it? According to a spokesperson for Alfa Romeo, building a high-performance vehicle during this tenuous time wouldn’t have been ‘economically viable’. The worst part is, even if the economy stabilizes and everything goes back to normal, the car that piqued everyone’s interest may never be more than just a pipe dream.

The MiTo was supposed to roll out of production and go on sale by the end of the year at a pretty reasonable price of around £20,000. But all that’s history thanks in large part to the cruel reality that is the economic crisis.

Continued after the jump.