Mitsubishi used the 2009 LA Auto Show to announce a plan to bring the Colt supermini to North America. More specifically, the automaker says it will begin offering the car at U.S. dealers sometime in 2010.

The Colt was recently redesigned, so we don’t expect any dramatic changes compared to the model currently sold in Europe. The hatchback is offered in both three-door and five-door models, but it remains unclear whether both or just one variant will make it stateside.

In any case, we expect the U.S. model to use a similar motor to the one offered in Europe, albeit with a few changes. The car comes with a 1.5-liter MIVEC four-cylinder that offers 104 horsepower and 104 pound-feet of torque in Europe. The American version will likely gain some extra power to meet consumer expectations, that is, is Mitsubishi is looking to make the Colt competitive on power. There is of course the possibility that Mitsubishi will opt to seek optimal fuel efficiency, and only make minor changes for emissions testing – leaving the power essentially as-is.

Also offered in Europe is the Colt Ralliart, which is a sport-minded version of the car, but with the same engine. Whether a more performance-oriented version with a more powerful motor might come stateside is a topic of much speculation, and will likely depend on how Mitsubishi decides to address the power of the standard Colt. Should Mitsubishi keep the power as-is for their base model, then a performance model with more power will be much more likely.

Currently, both the base and Ralliart models make use of a CVT transmission.

Because Mitsubishi only gave limited information about the Colt at the auto show, we expect further details from Mitsubishi to be unveiled in the coming few months.