Fiat to relaunch Dino nameplate

Italy's Fiat has announced that it plans to launch a new Dino in 2011. No, not that Dino. Although nameplate was more famously used by Ferrari, Fiat actually launched the Dino badge in 1966 as an affordable sports car based on the company's 124 Spider.

Like the original Dino, the new-age version will also be based on an already existing model - the Lotus Elise. Fiat decided to team up with Lotus because it gave the firm a low-cost entrance into the sports car segment. "Discovering and creating niches is our goal at the moment," Fiat CEO Lorenzo Sistino told Car Magazine. "We want to open as many new sectors as we can because that is one very effective way of differentiating ourselves from our rivals."

Although the 2011 Dino will be based on the Elise, look for the car to feature plenty of unique Fiat design cues.

In addition to the Dino, Sistino also revealed to Car that Fiat is planning a new city car to compete with the Smart Fortwo and upcoming Toyota iQ. Although Sistino kept mum on the city car's details, he did reveal the new model should be ready to hit the market in 2009.