Just last week, we brought you details of Alfa Romeo’s first electric vehicle, the Milano.
But a monumental fallout in Italy has seen the company do a screeching U-turn on the car’s name after it was accused of breaching a domestic law.
This is because the electric compact SUV is being built in Poland – the first time any Alfa Romeo has been produced outside national borders – and the Minister for Business and Made in Italy claimed rules mean it cannot carry an Italian name.
A new nameplate has been confirmed by the company – but it sounds significantly less ‘La Dolce Vita’, although the new Junior moniker has Alfa heritage.
Milano no more: Alfa Romeo has done a U-turn on the name of its first electric vehicle. Having unveiled it as the Milano last week, a monumental fallout in Italy over its name has ensued
Alfa Romeo, a brand steeped in Italian automotive history, unveiled the new Milano electric SUV last week, named after the iconic northern Italian city where the iconic manufacturer was founded in 1910.
But shortly after the car was officially revealed, industry minister, Adolfo Urso, whose official title is Minister for Business and Made in Italy, criticised Alfa Romeo’s parent company Stellantis for producing the EV abroad.
The car is being made at the Tychy plant, in Poland, and is the first Alfa Romeo model entirely produced outside Italy.
‘A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden by Italian law,’ Urso said in Turin, referring to 2003 legislation that targets ‘Italian sounding’ products that falsely claim to be Italian.
‘This law stipulates that you cannot give indications that mislead consumers.
‘So a car called Milano must be produced in Italy.
‘Otherwise, it gives a misleading indication which is not allowed under Italian law,’ Urso added.
Adolfo Urso, Italy’s industry minister, blasted Alfa Romeo’s parent company Stellantis for using the Milano name on a car that’s built abroad.’ A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden by Italian law,’ he said
Alfa Romeo unveiled the new Milano electric SUV, named after the iconic northern Italian city where the iconic manufacturer was founded in 1910
The car is being made at the Tychy plant, in Poland, and is the first Alfa Romeo model entirely produced outside Italy. As such, Urso says to call it the Milano is a breach of domestic laws
Urso’s complaint is the latest in a war of words between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist government and the Franco-Italian automaker, as the two sides hold talks on a plan to boost domestic car production to one million units.
The law mentioned by Urso says it is illegal to present a foreign-made product as coming from Italy.
Typically, it has been invoked against food products, for example US-made ‘parmesan’ cheese resembling Italy’s famed ‘parmigiano’.
Urso’s complaint is the latest in a war of words between Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s nationalist government and the Franco-Italian auto maker, as the two sides hold talks on a plan to boost domestic auto production to one million units.
Alfa Romeo this week released an official statement saying it had dropped the Milano name and replaced it with ‘Junior’
Alfa Romeo issued an official response on Monday, saying it has now taken the decision to change the name of the EV to ‘Junior’.
‘Despite Alfa Romeo believing that the name meets all legal requirements, and that there are issues much more important than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo has decided to change it from Milano to Junior in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding,’ the statement said.
And in a back-handed swipe at Mr Urso, the car company added: ‘The Alfa Romeo team would like to thank the public for the positive feedback, the Italian dealer network for their support, journalists for the enormous media attention given to the new car and the Italian government for the free publicity brought on by this debate.’
It added: ‘With a unique story and an endless list of names to choose from, the name change was not an issue.
‘It was a pleasure to go over the list of names selected as favourites from the public’s suggestions, one of which was Junior.’
Inside the Junior is ‘driver-oriented for an authentic and engaging driving experience’ with a continuing sporty theme and Italian flare
The electric Junior promises to be a practical for a small car: The boot is the largest of any EV in its class with a load capacity of 400 litres
Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO at Alfa Romeo, said: ‘We decided to change the name, even though we know that we are not required to do so, because we want to preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy.
‘The attention to our new sports compact that we’ve received the past few days is quite exciting as we had an unprecedented number of visits to the online configurator, causing the website to crash for a couple hours.’
Stefano Odorici – president of the Italian Alfa Romeo dealers association also added: ‘Alfa Romeo is an inclusive brand, which welcomes and generates passion and positive emotions.
‘You can clearly see it when I look into the eyes of our customers when they come to see, test, purchase and collect Alfa Romeo cars in our dealerships.
‘For this reason, we welcome the decision taken by the company to change the name of the car from Milano to Junior in light of the latest news, which could affect the enthusiasm and the enormous attention that the new car is receiving from our customers recently.
‘Junior, like Milano, are both beautiful names that have their roots in the history of the brand. It is no coincidence that they were immediately among the public’s favourites.’
The name ‘Junior’ has plenty of history for Alfa Romeo
Pictured: A 1970 Alfa Romeo 1300 Junior GT
Following the early sixties success of the Giulia and its Giulia Sprint GT coupé version, the goal for Alfa Romeo was to attract a new, younger audience eager for an exclusive car that didn’t have a huge price tag or running costs.
On September 26, 1966, the GT 1300 Junior was unveiled in Balocco and, despite the lack of the name Giulia, it was the leader of a new Alfa Romeo generation.
Similar versions of the Spider range will also be identified with the Junior.
The main mechanical variant was the adoption of the 1,290cc twin-cam engine, which – thanks to the single power supply and new timing – delivered 89hp and a top speed of over 105mph, only slightly less than that of the 1600, as well as the fact it could deliver high-level performance and driving pleasure.
The bodywork was also updated with a dedicated and more youthful trim.
With sales of over 92,000 units, the GT 1300 Junior soon became the overall best seller in the line-up and a true status symbol of its time.
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