L'Alfa Romeo Milan changes name from Milan to Junior, returning to use the one announced at the end of 2023. The motivation is certainly linked to the controversy sparked by the Minister of Business and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso; so Alfa Romeo opted for this change in order to maintain a good relationship with the Italian Government. He was the CEO, Jean-Philippe Learned, to directly make the decision to change the name. Furthermore, it is not the first time that a model of a car from the group changes its name: it had already happened with the Panda which was renamed “Gingo”. A name not accepted by social media, with strong criticism from the press and feared legal warnings from Renault, they changed their minds to retrace the steps of PANDA.
Alfa Romeo Milano changes name to Alfa Romeo “Junior”
The new Alfa Romeo is called Junior and no longer Milan. The CEO, Jean-Philippe Learned took the sensational decision by re-proposing the name with which the brand had announced the new B-segment B-SUV at the end of last year. The decision to change the name was made after the Minister Adolfo Urso had thundered against Alfa Romeo declaring that the name “Milan” could not be used to market a car produced in Poland.
The Minister of Business and Made in Italy claims that the name “Milan” for the new Alfa Romeo in fact violates the Italian law onItalian Sounding of 2003. This law prohibits indications that may deceive the consumer, especially if linked to geographical indications. Urso in particular cited article 4, paragraph 49, of Law no. 350/2003 and thearticle 517 of the penal code, which regulate the import, export and marketing of products with false indications of origin. The law was created to protect goods produced in Italy from counterfeitingestablishing that even the misleading use of company trademarks constitutes a false indication.
Alfa Romeo's response
Alfa Romeo took a few days to respond to Minister Urso, deciding not to enter into controversy with the Italian Government and taking the sensational decision to change the name of the Milano. However, there were some clarifications from the CEO Jean-Philippe Learned. “We are perfectly aware that this episode 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 new name Alfa Romeo Junior is completely natural, being strongly linked to the history of the brand and having been among our favorites and among the public's favorites since the beginning.
As a team we choose once again to make our passion available to the Brand, to give priority to the product and customers. We decide to change, even though we know that we are not obliged to do so, because we want to preserve the positive emotions that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy.”
New Alfa Romeo Junior
The new name, Alfa Romeo Junior, is not accidental but is inspired by the history of the company. The September 26, 1966 was presented to Balocco la GT 1300 Junior, which marked the beginning of a new generation of Alfa Romeo, renouncing the “Giulia” name. The similar versions of the range Spiders they were also called Junior. The main innovation was the adoption of 1,290 cc twin-cam enginewhich delivered 89 HP thanks to a new one power supply and timingallowing a maximum speed of over 170 km/h, just lower than the 1600 but guaranteeing high performance and driving pleasure.
The bodywork was also updated with a younger set-up. With almost 92,000 units sold, the GT 1300 Junior it became one of the best-selling cars in those years marked by the economic boom.
Photo of the new Alfa Romeo Junior
Read also:
→ Alfa Romeo JUNIOR features and prices
→ All the news, car tests on ALFA ROMEO
→Tested Alfa Romeo car video
→Alfa Romeo price list
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The article The new Alfa Romeo changes name from “Milano” to “Junior” comes from newsauto.it.
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