At the end of the 1950s, Alfa Romeo signed an agreement with Renault, founding Renault Italia. The goal was to produce lower-end cars. The heart of the agreement was the licensed production and distribution in Italy of the Dauphine (project 109), whose assembly lines were placed side by side with those of the Giulietta in the Portello plant. The engine was the 845cc 4-cylinder with 30 horsepower. Sales of the Italian Dauphine were good until 1964 (meanwhile the car had benefited from some upgrades such as disc brakes), but then dropped significantly causing production to stop in 1966.