Her debut Alfa Romeo Milano on 10 April had create much controversy around the name given to the Biscione-based manufacturer's first (also) electric B-SUV. According to some members of the Italian government, most notably Minister of Business and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso, the name violated Italian regulations regarding sounding as it is produced in Poland and combines a name strongly reminiscent of Italian territory. The issue ended up leading Jean-Philippe Imparato, and his entire team, to a real name change: Alfa Romeo Milano will eventually be called Alfa Romeo Junior.
The fact that the name of the B-SUV has been found to be "illegal" is reminiscent of the 2003 Italian law on sound signals invoked just a few days ago by Minister Urso himself (who referred to Article 4(49) of Law 350/2003, Article 517 of the Penal Code), according to which "a car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland", who then added that "a car called Milano must be produced in Italy, otherwise it gives a false indication not allowed by Italian law".
The Imparatto Decision
Certainly the news of the name change from Biscione seems impressive, especially when compared to the fact that the B-SUV was officially unveiled just five days ago. The one who called an emergency press conference a short while ago was Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato to set the name change to Alfa Romeo Milano. On this occasion, as reported via LinkedIn by Quattroruote editor Gian Luca Pellegrini, Jean-Philippe Imparato admitted that "in our opinion there is no violation of the Italian law on sound signals. However, I felt doubts and uncertainties at the administrative level, which is why we are making this gesture because we are not doing politics, but business". Imparato also added that since the name Milan had been chosen on 13 December 2023 and the ministry was aware of it, "nobody had told us anything; the controversy arose the day after the presentation."
So there's a return to a historic name for the brand that had also peeked among the parroting for this new B-SUV. Alfa Romeo Milano, soon to be called Junior, thus goes back to 1966, when the Giulia GT 1300 Junior debuted; a model intended for a young audience thanks to a basic layout that saw the use of the four-cylinder 1.3 twin-cylinder engine with 89 hp. Now we just have to wait for further official announcements from Alfa Romeo.
The event will go down in the history of the brand
A few minutes ago Alfa Romeo officially announced the name change of Alfa Romeo Milano, which is now Alfa Romeo Junior. A message that is far from controversial, in which the manufacturer admits that "although we believe that the name Milano respects all legal requirements, and considering that there are more topical issues than the name of a new car, Alfa Romeo has decided to change the name from Milano to Alfa Romeo Junior, in order to promote a climate of calm and relaxation", also thanking "the government for the free publicity this debate has generated".
Jean-Philippe Imparato, on the other hand, admitted that this episode "will be etched in the history of the brand", adding that the decision to change stems from the desire "to maintain the positive emotions that our products have always generated and to avoid any kind of controversy".
