Alfa Romeo revealed the Milano last week; an electrical crossover with a weird recent grille — all to be inbuilt Poland. This angered Italian authorities, who declared the name Milano too “Italian sounding” to be built anywhere but Italy, based on laws written to guard cheese. The Italian government wanted the Milano to be built domestically, so Alfa acquiesced — and adjusted the automobile’s name.
Now, moderately than the Milano, the Polish-built Alfa might be called the Junior. Presumably, the name is supposed to honor upstanding Italian-American Corrado Soprano. Alfa Romeo published a press release concerning the change, which incorporates some selection quotes:
During one of the vital weeks for the long run of Alfa Romeo, an Italian government official declared that the usage of the name Milano – chosen by the brand for its recently unveiled recent compact sports automobile – is banned by law.
Despite Alfa Romeo believing that the name meets all legal requirements, and that there are issues rather more vital than the name of a brand new automobile, Alfa Romeo has decided to alter it from Milano to Junior within the spirit of promoting mutual understanding.
…
The Alfa Romeo team would really like to thank the general public for the positive feedback, the Italian dealer network for his or her support, journalists for the large media attention given to the brand new automobile and the Italian government for the free publicity brought on by this debate.
The release takes a really “Did you really have nothing better to do?” tone towards the Italian government’s intervention and compelled renaming of the automobile, but I occur to think the Meloni administration knew exactly what it was doing. Had Alfa Romeo stuck to its guns on the name, and decided the brand new automobile must be called Milano, the courts could have been capable of force its production back to Italy — a win for a government concerned with transportation basically, and Stellantis specifically. Take these couple lines from Reuters back in February:
“We are always willing and open (to help) with whatever might produce jobs in Italy, but clearly if people think that producing in other countries where there is a lower production cost is better, I can’t say anything,” Meloni said.
Looks like they found a method to say something, eh?
Credit : jalopnik.com