Alfa Romeo renames Milano: pressure from Italy

The new Alfa Romeo Milano in a hurry

Mention the controversy
From Milano we are juniors
Alfa Romeo’s first electric car
It is also available as a hybrid with all-wheel drive
A sister model of the Fiat 600
Market launch in autumn 2024

The Italian government treats the car like Parmesan cheese

The first of April was already a few days ago and yet what is happening at Alfa Romeo Milano looks like a belated April Fool’s joke. The new Italian B-segment SUV will be renamed until its market launch in autumn. The Milano is quickly becoming a Junior, as Alfa Romeo has officially confirmed.

The car manufacturer responds to the demands of the Italian government, especially from the Minister of Economy Adolfo Urso, who commented on the Milano as follows: “A car with the name Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is prohibited by Italian law.” The politician also referred to a 2003 law that prohibits the sale of Italian audio products even though they were not made in Italy. The fact that the law primarily applies to foods such as Parmesan cheese does not seem to play a major role.

Alfa Romeo Milano 2024 - Page

The boss of Alfa Imparato thanks the Italian government

One thing is certain: the Alfa Romeo Milano will continue to be built at the Polish Stellantis factory in Tychy, but from now on it will be called “Alfa Romeo Junior”. It now follows, at least in name, popular youth models such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT or the Alfa Romeo Spider 1300 Junior.

Unfortunately, Alfa Romeo itself decided to change the name to “promote stability”. Alfa CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato himself said: “We have decided to change the name, although we know that we do not have to do so, because we want to preserve the positive feelings that our products have always evoked to avoid any kind of controversy.” The boss of the brand also thanks the Italian government with the following words: “The attention we have received for our new “Sports Compact” in the last few days is very exciting, because we have had an unusual number of hits on the online developer, which caused the site to be interrupted for a few hours.”

You can find out more about the new Alfa Romeo Milano, sorry, Alfa Romeo Junior, here.
(Text: tv | Photo: manufacturer)