It will be called Juniorand no more Milan. Driven by the controversies triggered by the minister Adolfo Urso for the choice to name the new Alfa Romeo Milan despite it being built in Poland, Stellantis he decided to take a step back which was anything but willing. Sensational, and worrying for future relations between the Group and Italy, the choice was announced yesterday afternoon.
Last Thursday, commenting on the presentation of the new model that has just taken place, the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso, said that «a car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is prohibited by the law that defined Italian Sounding in 2003, a law that states that information that misleads the consumer must not be given.”
Alfa Romeo disputed that this type of interpretation of the law exists regarding its product. «The name Milan – explains the brand – among the public’s favorites, was chosen to pay tribute to the city where everything originated in 1910. It is not the first time that Alfa Romeo asks the public’s opinion to choose the name of a car. While believing that the name Milano complies with all legal requirements, and in consideration of the fact that there are strictly topical issues more relevant than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo decides to change the name from Milano to Junior, with a view to promote a climate of serenity and relaxation”.
Jean-Philippe Learned, Alfa’s CEO added: «We are perfectly aware that this episode will remain engraved in the history of the brand. We don’t want problems, controversies are always the enemy of the market. And above all when you clash with politics you always lose customers. We do cars, not politics. We wanted to avoid an atmosphere inconsistent with the protection of our product. We are taking this step backwards not because the law says so nor because the government has asked us to, but because we want to leave with serenity.”
Despite Giocato’s words, the mood of Alfa Romeo, and consequently of Stellantis, is rather unnerved. And still disappointed. «We took over Alfa when it had practically no models or future. We turned it around and made it profitable. We produce 4 out of 5 models in Italy, yet it is not enough to keep us safe from controversy. Furthermore, it was known for three months that the new B-SUV would be called Milano, but someone woke up to dispute the name only the day after its official presentation, when in reality there would be more important issues to deal with rather than the name of a car”, underlined Learned.
In defense of his reasons, Stellantis also reiterated yesterday that the name of a car is not an indication of its geographical origin.” And he gave other competitive models as an example, such as the Kia Rio and Sorento, produced in Korea; Nissan Murano, produced in Russia; Hyundai Santa Fe and Tucson, both built in Korea. Furthermore, the name Milano, again according to Stellantis, does not mislead the consumer as to the origin of the car which is in any case designed, engineered, tested and approved in Italy”.
It should also be remembered that the choice to build the new Alfa model in Tichy, Poland was clearly justified by Carlos Tavares on the sidelines of the presentation: «Producing it in Italy would have meant much higher costs. To the point that we would have had to make her pay 10 thousand euros more compared to the current less than 30,000″.
The new Junior scores anyway another reason for strong friction between Stellantis and the government, already dealing with a difficult relationship regarding the state of employment and the prospects of factories in our country. Upon specific request, Alfa Romeo confirmed yesterday that the Stelvio and Giulia will continue to be produced in Cassino “at least until 2026”. And in that “at least” there is a dangerous sense of uncertainty about the future.
Tags: Sensational Alfa Romeo Milano clash government
