Alfa Romeo Changes Milano Name After Italian Government Ban
Excited for the Alfa Romeo Milano, the transformative EV meant to usher Italy's beloved premium performance brand into a new age? Well, too bad. The Alfa Romeo Milano is dead just a week after its reveal. In its place comes the Alfa Romeo Junior, identical in every way but the new nameplate.
After a run of five full days, the Milano badge has apparently met an unceremonious end at the hands of the Italian government. In a statement with unusual candor, the brand says that the name Milano "is banned by law" in Italy. While Alfa "[believes] that the name meets all legal requirements, and that there are issues much more important than the name of a new car," the company is choosing to re-badge the Milano as the Junior before its official sale "in the spirit of promoting mutual understanding."
If nothing else, Alfa Romeo's representatives understand that the situation is odd. CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato says that "[Alfa is] perfectly aware that this moment will remain engraved in the history of the brand," but says that the decision was made to "preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy." The statement goes on to thank "the public for the positive feedback, the Italian dealer network for their support, journalists for the enormous media attention given to the new car, and the Italian government for the free publicity brought on by this debate."
Instead of sharing its name with a city, the Alfa Romeo Junior is now named after the smaller and more affordable Alfa products offered in the mid-1960s. Hopefully, nobody will ban this name by law.
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