Alfa Romeo: the name Milano is wrong? Then Junior! | Alfa Romeo

• In one of the most important weeks for the future of Alfa Romeo, an Italian government official said that the use of the Milano model name for the newly launched SUV is prohibited by law.

• The model name chosen by the public Milano was chosen to honor the city where Alfa Romeo’s history began in 1910. It was not the first time that Alfa Romeo asked the public for their opinion when choosing a car name. This happened back in 1966 with Spider, which the audience chose the name Duetto.

• Although Alfa Romeo believes that the name meets all legal requirements, Alfa Romeo has decided to change it from Milano to Junior in the interest of mutual understanding.

• The Alfa Romeo team would like to thank the public for the positive feedback, the Italian dealer network for their support and the press for the great media attention the new car received.

• With such a unique history and a long list of Alfa Romeo names to choose from, changing the name was not a challenge. Names chosen as favorites from public suggestions also included the historic name Junior.

Rüsselsheim, April 2024 – “We are fully aware that this moment will fall in the history of Alfa Romeo. It is a moment of great responsibility. The choice of the model name Junior is logical as it is closely linked to the history of our brand. The name Junior was one of our favorites and one of the audience’s favorites since the beginning. Once again we decided to share our passion for the brand and put our customers first. We have decided to change the name, although we don’t have to to avoid any controversy. The attention we have received for our new compact car in the last few days is huge. Our website received a large number of visits, which sometimes caused the website to crash,” comments Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO of Alfa Romeo.

“Alfa Romeo is an integrated brand that inspires enthusiasm and positive emotions. I see this in the eyes of our customers when they look at our cars, test drive them, buy them and take them. For this reason, we welcome the company’s decision to change the model name from Milano to Junior. The dispute may affect the enthusiasm and attention that the new car receives. Junior and Milano are both good names that have their roots in the history of the Alfa Romeo brand. It is no coincidence that these two names were among the public’s favorites,” adds Stefano Odorici, President of the Union of Italian Alfa Romeo Dealers.

Origin of the name Junior

Alfa Romeo used the name Junior for the first time in 1966. It was chosen for the initial version of the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT coupe which appealed to a young audience. The Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior was soon followed by the Alfa Romeo Spider 1300 Junior.

Both models featured specific body details and a new engine variant: a 1,290 cubic centimeter displaced four-cylinder rotated from the range. With 89 hp, the Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior reached a top speed of over 170 km/h and thus almost reached the performance of the 1600 model. With more than 92,000 units sold, the Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior was the best-seller in this series an example and symbol of the state of his time.

CONTACT MEDIA:

Sascha Wolfinger Dorothea Knell
Phone: +49 173 3200402 Phone: +49 170 9174426
Email: sascha.wolfinger@stellantis.com Email: dorothea.knell@stellantis.com

CUSTOMERS PLEASE CONTACT:

Phone: 0 800 253 200 00 | contact form