Alfa Romeo Milano can’t bear an Italian name – says the Italian Government
Alfa Romeo hits a bit of a snag, concerning their upcoming EV’s christening.
When Alfa Romeo showcased to the world their first-ever EV it felt like a complete package – Good looks, a Century-old legacy and a great Italian name “MILANO” named after a prominent city in Italy that evoked a sense of motoring royalty and passion that usually follow suit in almost all Italian origin brands with a very few exceptions.
However, it seems the Italian Government is not happy about the Italian marquee naming one of its models after an Italian city and deemed it illegal – But why? It is not the first time when a car has been named after an Italian city Ferrari has done it a few times. Then what’s the issue here – why is the Italian government not happy with Alfa Romeo MILANO?
It is quite simple actually – it has something to do with the “LAW” that states a car being produced outside of Italy can’t bear an Italian name – Stellantis is producing the Milano in Poland, and this is what the Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Ursu has to say about it-
“A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden by Italian law,” Urso said, referring law that prohibits any products being sold with Italian names that aren’t made in Italy.
“This law stipulates that you cannot give indications that mislead consumers. So, a car called Milano must be produced in Italy. Otherwise, it gives a misleading indication which is not allowed under Italian law,”
The reasoning behind Stellantis’ decision to produce Milano in their Poland plant is to save around €10,000 in its retail cost – pretty logical if you ask me, what would you prefer 10,000 off on your latest Italian EV that may or may not be entirely Italian or an EV that cost Ten grand more than it should have cost, but can proudly carry the “Made in Italy” moniker – which still won’t be purely Italian because it shares its platform with the Jeep Avenger.
Regardless of what platform it’s based on or where its being built a gentle glance can assure that it’s an outright Alfa Romeo product with its sensuous design that can make a crossover look attractive something only Italians can do, and this fact alone should be enough to let it bore the “MILANO” name.
However, Alfa Romeo has decided to change the name of their latest model to “Junior”. despite being adamant that the name met all the legal requirements. According to Alfa Romeo, this decision is taken in the spirit of mutual understanding.
We are perfectly aware that this moment 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 name Junior is completely natural, as it is strongly linked to the history of the brand and has been among our favorites and the public’s favorites since the beginning. As a team, we are choosing once again to share our passion for the brand and make the product and our customers the priority. We decided to change the name, even though we know that we are not required to do so because we want to preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy. Jean-Philippe Imparato – CEO Alfa Romeo
As the CEO Jean Philippe stated it is quite natural for the brand to use the Junior’s nomenclature because back in 1966 as the Giulia and Giulia coupe tasted success, they decided to bring something more affordable for the younger buyers and with that came GT 1300 Junior to existence which seemingly did quite well for the brand with sales of over 90,000 units between 1966 – late 1970s’will the new Junior do the same Favour for the Italian brand?
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