Seems an Italian brand’s car not built in Italy cannot have an Italian name.

FORGET ‘Milano’, it’s now ‘Junior’ - that’s the name change for Alfa Romeo’s first electric, forced by political uproar in Italy.

The Italian marque’s new urban sports utility, revealed internationally just a week ago, fell into controversy through being named after the brand’s home town - but also set to be first Alfa to be entirely built outside of Italy.

The plan to build it in a plant in Poland, owned by Alfa owner Stellantis, raised a conundrum until Italian law, raised at the weekend and apparently now proven.

“A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden by Italian law,” Italian industry minister Adolfo Urso told Automotive News Europe.

He was referring to 2003 legislation that targets “Italian sounding” products that falsely claim to be Italian. The law typically has been invoked against food products; like NZ “parmesan” cheese resembling Italy’s “parmigiano”.

“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,” Urso said.

Today Alfa Romeo said it had made a name change, “in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding”, even though, according to chief executive officer Jean-Philippe Imparato, “we know that we are not required to do so”.

“We want to preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy,” Imparato added. 

“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.”

On why the Junior name was chosen for the brand's first series-production EV, Imparato said it is “completely natural” and “strongly linked to the history of the brand”, citing 1966’s GT 1300 Junior, a best-seller of the time.

Positioned as the spiritual successor to the Giulietta and Mito hatchbacks, the new Junior majors on accessibility but offering both premium appeal and driver engagement in a bid to “attract a new generation of Alfisti”.

Imparato said that the Junior was designed to help the brand go “from exclusive to inclusive”.

Measuring 4170mm long by 1780mm wide and 1500mm tall, the Junior adopts several bold new design cues but nods back to Alfas of old with features like the swollen wheel arches, a 'coda tronca' bluff rear end and SZ-inspired headlights. The most distinctive feature is the new interpretation of Alfa's traditional front-end grille, which on electric versions featured stylised elements from the firm's logo.

As with the Fiat 600, Citroen C4, Peugeot 2008 and Jeep Avenger with which it shares a platform and its basic dimensions, the Junior delivers with a choice of electric or mild-hybrid petrol power.

Alfra Romeo’s national distributor, Ateco Group, has not made any comment about whether Junior will come here.