After the introduction of the Alfa Sprint in 1976, in 1983 the Italian car-maker tried to improve the car. The German car-makers started to recover and increase its market share in the sport-compact segment.

Alfa Romeo introduced the Alfasud Sprint in 1976 as an affordable sporty model primarily aimed at the European market, but the car ended up being sold on more continents between 1976 and 1988.