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The Alfa Romeo Milano isn’t any extra, and as a replacement is the Alfa Romeo Junior. This tiny Alfa crossover – which gained't be bought within the US – was simply revealed final week, however Alfa has already been pressured to vary the identify on the request of the Italian authorities.
Why is Italy telling its beloved Alfa Romeo model it will probably't use the “Milano” identify? It comes all the way down to the place the automobile is being manufactured, and the Milano/Junior will likely be manufactured at Alfa's plant in Tychy, Poland. In response to Italy's Business Minister Adolfo Urso, “A automobile referred to as Milo can’t be produced in Poland. It’s in opposition to the regulation.” Mentioned regulation goals to forestall the sale of merchandise which have Italian-sounding names however are usually not truly produced in Italy.
Urso continued, “This regulation says that you just can’t give deceptive indicators to shoppers. So a automobile named Milano should be produced in Italy. In any other case, it provides deceptive indicators which isn’t allowed below Italian regulation. “
Alfa Romeo issued a press launch as we speak in response to authorities criticism, agreeing to vary the identify of the Milo to Junior. That stated, Alfa had so much to say and nonetheless considers the Milo identify respectable.
“Alfa Romeo believes that the identify meets all authorized necessities and that there are extra essential points than the identify of the brand new automobile, regardless of this Alfa Romeo selected to vary it from “Milano” to “Alfa Romeo Junior” within the spirit of publicity. It has been determined by mutual understanding,” reads the corporate assertion.
“The Alfa Romeo group want to thank the general public for the constructive response, the Italian supplier community for his or her help, the journalists for the large media consideration given to the brand new automobile, and the federal government for the free publicity it has acquired from this debate.”
The identify Milano was truly chosen by means of public suggestions, as Alfa surveyed residents of Italy about what they believed the small SUV needs to be referred to as. “Milano” was the successful identify, and it makes a variety of sense contemplating Alfa's historical past started in Milan, Italy. After all, “Junior” tells of Alfa’s historical past, too, harkening again to 1966 with the Alfa Romeo GT 1300 Junior.
After all, none of this can have a lot impression on what we'll see on Alfa Romeo heaps within the US, because the Junior gained't be bought right here. Nonetheless, it's an amusing flip of occasions, and if you happen to're curious to learn Alpha's response in its entirety, you could find it right here.