In response to pressure imposed by its home government, Italian luxury brand Alfa Romeo announced it will change the name of a car it recently introduced.
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In a statement issued on April 15, Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato announced that the name of its recently revealed Milano will be called 'Junior', in a move that Stellantis (STLA) asks “in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding.”
“We decided to change the name, although we know that we are not obliged to do so, because we want to preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy,” Imparato said.
In addition, he indicated that the “name controversy” generated a great stir for Alfa Romeo, as curious onlookers were eager to see what all the fuss was about.
“The attention we have received in recent days towards our new sports compact is quite exciting, as we had an unprecedented number of visits to the online configurator, causing the website to crash for a couple of hours.”
It's all in a name, until the government says so:
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The Stellantis-owned brand on April 10 revealed what it then called the Milano: a sleek, subcompact crossover SUV that's also offered with an electric powertrain, the brand's first electric vehicle.
According to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, Alfa Romeo would build the compact cruiser at Stellantis' plant in Tychy, Poland, to keep the car's price competitive.
“If built in Italy, a Milano would have started at around 40,000 euros (about $43,000) instead of 30,000 euros (about $32,000), which limits its market potential,” Tavares said during the event.
This revelation infuriated Italian government officials, specifically Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, who argued that assembling a car that Alfa Romeo dares to call 'Milano' outside Italy's borders would violate Italian law.
“In Poland you cannot make a car called Milano. This is prohibited by Italian law,” Urso said, referring to 2003 legislation targeting “Italian-sounding” products that falsely claim to be Italian.
“This law stipulates that no indications may be given that mislead consumers. Therefore, a car called Milano must be produced in Italy. Otherwise, it would give a misleading indication that is not permitted by Italian law.”
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Although the previous name 'Milano' was a tribute to Alfa Romeo's hometown of Milan, the new name 'Junior' is a beloved nameplate from the Italian brand's past.
According to Alfa Romeo, the name pays homage to the GT 1300 Junior sports coupe of the 1960s. Produced between 1965 and 1977, the original Junior was a way for young buyers to get behind the wheel of an Alfa Romeo without spending so much money.
According to their data, the formula worked. The Alfa Junior became a big seller for Alfa, selling more than 92,000 units throughout its 12 years of operation.
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