Alfa Romeo rebrands Milano car after Meloni backlash

The owner of Alfa Romeo has changed the name of its Milano SUV after the Italian government criticised the carmaker for building it in Poland. Stellantis said it was renaming the car the Junior following a row with Giorgia Meloni’s administration. Jean-Philippe Imparato, Alfa Romeo’s boss, said: “We decided to change the name, even though we know that we are not required to do so, because we want to preserve the positive emotion that our products have always generated and avoid any type of controversy.”The decision came after Adolfo Urso, Italy’s industry minister, accused the company of misleading buyers with the name of the vehicle. Mr Urso said last week: “A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland.“This is forbidden by Italian law. This law stipulates you cannot give indications that mislead consumers ... a car called Milano must be produced in Italy.”He claimed it breached a 2003 law that prevents the sale of “Italian sounding” products not made in the country.The Milano is the first Alfa Romeo to be entirely assembled outside of the country since the brand was founded in 1910 in Milan. However, Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Stellantis, argued that making the car in Italy...

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