The decision is historic and sudden: Alfa Romeo Milan change name to Alfa Romeo Junior. The CEO of Biscione, Jean Philippe Learnedconfirms the reason for this retrofit in a round table open to the sector press: do not go into conflict with the Italian Government. In recent days the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, had stated that by law the name Milano could not be used for the new creation of the Biscione because, as it was produced in Poland (in the Tychy factory), it indicated false and misleading data on the origins of the car. So, after the presentation with great fanfare in Milan in recent days, there comes a step backwards which makes some noise but which is not the first in the history of the brand.
Learned and the name change
“We are perfectly aware that this episode will remain engraved in the history of the Brand. It’s a great responsibility but at the same time it’s an exciting moment. The choice of the new name Junior is completely natural, being strongly linked to the history of the brand and having been among our favorites and among the public’s favorites from the beginning. As a team we choose once again to make our passion available to the Brand, to give priority to the product and customers. We decide to change, even though we know we are not obligated to do so, because we want to preserve the positive emotions that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy. The attention paid these days to our new sports compact is something unique, with an unprecedented number of accesses to the online configurator, which caused the website to crash for a few hours”, declared Jean-Philippe Learnato, CEO of Alfa Romeo.
“Alfa Romeo is an inclusive brand, which welcomes and generates passion and positive emotions. This can be seen clearly by looking 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 influence the climate of enthusiasm and the enormous attention that the new car is receiving from our customers these days. Junior, like Milano, are beautiful names, which have their roots in the history of the brand. It is no coincidence that they were immediately among the public’s favorites“, says Stefano Odorici – President of the Italian Dealers Association (Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia, Jeep).
Stellantis’ step backwards
It is not the first time that Alfa Romeo has found itself changing the name of a vehicle after its presentation. It had already happened with the Duetcolliding with a famous snack company, veering up Spidersit happens in 2024 with Milan gaining a historic name in the tradition of the Brand. Junior it is a name that saw its first appearance on the scenes of the Milanese manufacturer in 1966, when the entry-level version of the sports car was presented Giulia GT with 1.3 engine. In that case, the name brought luck to a very important model.
Stellantis claims to be at peace with his conscience and maintains that the name Milano would not have collided with any law, also because the name of a vehicle does not necessarily have to be linked to the geographical origin of the car. There are many examples in the automotive sector: Kia Rio, or Hyndai Santa Fe, both respectively not produced in Brazil or Mexico. In any case, in order not to disturb anyone and not enter into a knife fight with the Italian government, the name Junior was chosen, which was the second choice. The model rebranding operation will cost dearlybut it won’t be a real bloodbath, as Learned says.
In any case, the relations between the large industrial group and Italy will not change, given that the next Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Giulia will be produced in Cassino, Lazio.
Tags: Stellantis reverse Alfa Romeo Milano
