Alfa Romeo Milano/Manufacturer
Apparently everything went well. Alfa Romeo introduced a model, gave it a name that was all a tribute to its home town, made a complete fuss out of it, explained how important it is and how much they invested in its differentiation despite the use of a common platform with it, Fiat, Peugeot, Citroen, DS and Jeep - applause from the audience, etc. .
However, in a short time, even before the scene was closed, a kind of storm arose - the Italian Minister of Industry, Adolfo Orso, clarified in an official publication that the model called "Milano" violates a law from 2003, which broadly prohibits companies from giving distinctly Italian names to products that are not manufactured in Italy. The fact that Ssangyong already has a car called "Tivoli" that is manufactured in South Korea did not come up at the time, but hey, maybe in front of Alfa and the owner of the house Stelantis, which is already in friction with the Italian government, he has quite a few more tools.
Then comes another twist, when Alfa Romeo publishes an official announcement on its website that it is changing the model name from "Milan" to "Junior". And so she wrote: "Although Alfa Romeo believes that the name meets the requirements of the law, and that there are more pressing issues than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo decided to change the name from Milano to Junior in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding."
Alfa Romeo CEO Jean Felipe Amparato, not a conciliatory type or one who tends to change his mind, also wrote in a message: "The choice of the name Junior is completely natural, because it is well connected to the history of the brand and was among our and the public's favorites. We decided to change the name, even though we know we didn't have to do so in order to avoid controversy."
The new-old name "Junior" brings to mind one of the most glorious names in the history of Alfa Romeo. The model, the fruit of Giugiaro's design for the Bertone workshop was born in 1966, when it rode on the waves of success of the Giulia Sprint GT Coupe. This "Junior" version is designed to attract young and enthusiastic audiences to a sports car at an accessible price.
He presented a design that has not ceased to be timeless even after all these years. And the reason for the nickname "Junior" was that behind the grill was a 1,290 cc engine with a double overhead camshaft, 89 hp which was a lot for its time in a popular coupe car and a maximum speed of 169 km/h. The success was great, 92 thousand pieces of the " Junior" were produced until 1977 and it became the best-selling model of Alfa Romeo at that time and an eternal icon.
Bottom line is this is a strange story. Is Alfa Romeo's legal department such a shlomilian who didn't know the law? Did Alfa's management know, but estimate that the government would not intervene, even though for a long time it has been increasingly criticizing Stelantis, which transfers production from Italy at the expense of local jobs? Or were we witnessing a pre-planned PR exercise that only increased the talk of the new model?
Whatever the reason, the bottom line is that Alfa Romeo found itself, at least officially, covered in tar and feathers and expelled from the city. Even those who understood that as of today and in its current state , if she wants to survive, she has no choice but to swallow her pride and produce the cars that everyone buys - a small crossover. They must be uncomfortable when, of all things in the world, she attaches a name to it like Junior. Well, let's hope it's really successful and successful like the original .