The chatter about the move does not die down Alfa Romeo to change the name of Milano to Junior after the government’s complaints about the recall toItaly for a car produced in Poland. Jean-Philippe Learned, CEO of Alfa Romeo, explained the genesis of this decision and the desire not to clash with the government.
Speaking to Autocar,impresa stated that the decision to change the name of the Milano has been made despite legal advice that the name did not violate the law and to avoid getting involved in a political dispute. “When they told me it was prohibited by law – it’s not – I said: ‘Calm down: I’m not here to play politics; I’m just here to make a sustainable Alfa Romeo for the future’“.
The name change “created a ferment that I could never have imagined“, underlined Learned, explaining that the name Milan was revealed in December and it has been known for years that the car would be produced in Poland alongside the Jeep Avenger and the Fiat 600e, with which it shares the Stellantis e-CMP platform.
“If I wanted to answer the demand of Giuletta and Mito owners who want a B-segment car from 2021, I had no other solution than to follow the platform,” he added. “I couldn’t come up with a local solution.”
Learned also noted that when Stellantis was formed in January 2021, Alfa was losing “hundreds of millions of euros” but is now in profit and that the next-generation Stelvio SUV and Giulia sedan, expected in 2025 and 2026, will be built in Italy.
The CEO added that theItaly will be the only country in Europe to produce cars on both the Stellantis SLTA Medium and Large platformsadding that “of the five cars in my strategy, four are made in Italy.”
Learned believes that European politicians should focus more on the growing threat from Chinese automakers that they are expanding their production in Europe – which he says represents the “main” risk for Stellantis and the European automotive industry in the future.
Alfa Romeo Milano, here is the first electric car from Biscione, with also the high-performance Veloce
“When you see MG launch a car priced at 16,000 euros in Spain, I’m sure they’re losing tons of money, but they’re flush with cash” he said. “You see Tesla cutting 10,000 euros or more and lowering European margins from 18% to 7% or 8% and you see some of our German competitors in China working at -40% in terms of discount to save their asses. When you see that, you have to be firm on the total production cost of each car.”
“There are two categories of people: those who understand that they have to move and those who don’t. Every week you hear some very important people say ‘we have to surrender’, and this is just the beginning of the bloodbath. But some don’t see it. They open the door and say ‘hello, welcome’. Good luck, my friend, why not think that they will come alone: they will come with their suppliers“.
Tags: Alfa Romeo CEO warns politicians names cars problem Chinese invasion
