Alfa Romeo Junior 2024 preview: specs and full details of the car that used to be Milano

It’s almost six years since Alfa Romeo axed its baby model, the Mito – but the iconic Italian brand is now returning to the small car market with this new SUV, called Junior. The Alfa Romeo Junior was unveiled on April 10 2024 as the Alfa Romeo Milano. It took less than a week for the car to be renamed as the Junior in an unprecedented move that followed a legal storm in Italy over the Milano being named after Milan yet built in Poland.   

Putting that all-time great automotive PR gaffe to one side, Alfa Romeo Junior is the company’s twist on the formula already used by Stellantis stablemates Opel/Vauxhall (Mokka), Fiat (600), Peugeot (2008) and Jeep (Avenger). It uses the group’s e-CMP2 modular architecture and will be offered with a choice of two electric-motor versions or a 48-volt petrol hybrid.

What powertrain options and performance can we expect?

The Alfa Romeo Junior EVs will share the usual Stellantis battery and charging configuration, with a 54kWh (50.8kWh usable) capacity and refills at up to 100kW, but there will be two motor options. The Junior Elettrica gets the typical 154bhp motor set-up, allowing up to a claimed 255 miles of range and delivering a 0-62mph time that’s likely to be around nine seconds.

The Junior Elettrica Veloce, meanwhile, features a punchier front-mounted 237bhp motor (almost certainly shared with Abarth’s forthcoming 600e, since that car has a similar quoted figure) and a bespoke chassis calibration that includes a Torsen mechanical differential, a faster steering ratio, a widened track, different front and rear anti-roll bars, stiffer suspension that lowers the ride height by 25mm, beefed-up brakes (380mm discs at the front) and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The petrol-powered version of the car will be called the Junior Ibrida. It gets a 134bhp 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol set-up that incorporates a 28bhp electric motor integrated into the six-speed automatic gearbox, allowing the car to run on electricity alone around 50 per cent of the time in town.

The Ibrida will be initially offered with front-wheel drive, but Alfa says a four-wheel-drive Q4 version will arrive “at a later stage”. It hasn’t released any technical details on the Q4, beyond saying it will deliver “automated rear-wheel drive axle management”, but it’s likely that it will share at least some components with the forthcoming Jeep Avenger 4xe, which places an additional 28bhp electric motor on the rear axle. Auto Express understands that the Ibrida is not yet confirmed for the UK, and that even if it does make it to showrooms here, it’s likely to be in two-wheel-drive form only.

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What do we know about the efficiency and running costs? 

The electric Alfa Romeo Junior’s 54kWh battery can charge at up to 100kW and the range is quoted as 255 miles. Alfa says that both Elettrica editions will get a Free2move charging card that includes access to over 600,000 charging stations across Europe, and a wallbox as standard.

What is the exterior and interior design like?

The Junior is actually one of the bigger e-CMP2 creations; at 4.17 metres in length, it’s a few centimetres up on both the Avenger and Mokka, though pretty much identical to the Fiat 600 and a fair bit shorter than the Peugeot 2008. The Alfa manages to look distinct, though, thanks to some typically sharp styling elements. The front end features stacked ultra-slim headlights and daytime-running lights, with a darker intake lower in the bumper and Alfa’s ‘shield grille’ set in textured plastic beneath a badge mounted on the leading edge of the bonnet.

The side features cleaner surfacing, with a simple crease lower down and another higher one that curves over the rear wheelarch to accentuate the rear shoulders of the car. The side profile looks more hatchback than SUV, with a relatively large glass area and a door handle that, as on the Jeep Avenger, is integrated into the C-pillar. The rear has a swept-up tail, with a one-piece lighting element that incorporates a slim LED signature, plus the Alfa Romeo script badging. 

Inside, the Junior stays true to Stellantis’s e-CMP2 hardware with a pair of 10.25 displays – one for the digital instrument panel and the other a touchscreen for infotainment. The designers have tried to give the Alfa’s fascia its own distinct identity, though, with a more pronounced cowl shape around the dials and ‘cloverleaf’ air vents.

The central screen, meanwhile, sits a little lower than in other e-CMP models, with slim air vents above it. There’s a more conventional lower centre console, too, with familiar Stellantis switches present but not the foldable cubbyhole cover that we’ve seen in the Avenger and 600e.

What do we know about the infotainment system? 

Alfa says the infotainment interface will be easily customisable, thanks to app ‘widgets’ that can be dragged around the screen and saved in position. The system gets over-the-air updates and connected navigation, too. Based on our brief experience with the software, it’s very similar in concept to the interface in the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600e. 

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, since the tile-based layout makes it pretty easy to prod buttons for key functions. We’re told the hardware beneath it all is slightly different, but we’ve yet to see how big a difference this makes in everyday use – or how the promised customisation works in practice.

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How practical is the Alfa Romeo Junior and how big is the boot space?

 The Alfa Junior is unquestionably a small SUV – so you shouldn’t expect full family-car space inside the cabin. There’s decent room for two adults up front, albeit with the stylised centre tunnel offering relatively little storage space between them. Things tighten up in the back seats, though, with only average legroom for taller adults; this could be affected further if you pick an edition with the thick plastic-backed sports seats. Headroom is less of an issue, at least.

The boot measures up to 400 litres, although we’re awaiting details on how this figure fluctuates depending on which powertrain you choose. The load bay itself is a decent shape and slightly longer than in the likes of the Avenger, thanks to extra rear overhang. The boot floor has a couple of height settings, and there are a couple of moulded plastic hooks for shopping bags in each side of the boot.

Alfa also says that electric versions of the Junior will have an additional cable-storage area beneath the bonnet, although it hasn’t specified an exact capacity for this space.

What safety tech does the Alfa Romeo Junior have? 

We’re still waiting for precise specs on the Junior’s safety kit, but we’d expect its equipment list to include up to three Isofix child-seat mounting points, and six airbags. Alfa also says that level-two autonomous driving tech will be available via the Techno pack – a bundle of options that can be added to any of the versions.

What will the Alfa Romeo Junior price be?

Alfa Romeo has yet to confirm that the Ibrida hybrid version of the Junior will make it to the UK at all – and even if it does, it’ll only be in two-wheel-drive form, not Q4 spec. If the petrol-based version does reach British showrooms, we should expect a starting figure roughly equivalent to the similarly powered Jeep Avenger’s, at around £26,000.

Equally, there’s no word yet on pricing for either of the confirmed electric versions - the Elettrica or the Elettrica Veloce. However, the more modest of the pair should cost from around £35,000, while the high-performance version could well be priced at more than £40,000.

Regardless of powertrain, the Junior will be available in a choice of three trim packs. Techno brings matrix-LED headlights, a powered tailgate with gesture control and navigation, while Premium gets an uprated interior finish and electric adjustment and massaging function on the driver’s seat. Sport, meanwhile, gets exterior styling tweaks, plus Sabelt sports seats and Alcantara upholstery.

In addition, the Elettrica and Ibrida models are being offered with a launch edition, called Speciale. It mixes many of the key functions from the three packs, so it includes red paint and 18-inch alloy wheels, plus a unique upholstery finish, a leather-covered steering wheel, eight-colour ambient lighting and keyless entry and start.

Q&A With Jean-Philippe Imparato, CEO Alfa Romeo

We grabbed some time with the Alfa Romeo CEO at the launch event back when the car was called Milano... 

Which bit of the Milano are you most proud of?

“I’m very proud that we are launching it with the sport version, the Veloce. I personally fought a lot to be able to say, ‘I’ve launched it with the sporty version first – 20-inch wheels, etc.’ The way we’ve worked on this car is really cool.”

Is there anything you’d like to have added, given unlimited funds?

“It’s not a question about having a blank cheque but if I had no regulations, I’d bring in a 300bhp engine. But I’m working within the rules. I already have the engine, in fact, but what do I tell my kids when it is 46 degrees in Sicily this summer?”

What will Milano do for your customer base?

“In some countries it could be more than 40 per cent of our sales. Traditionally our customer is 53 years of age, a petrolhead and quite rich. We have already seen this change with Tonale, which has brought in more female customers and more business-to-business (fleet) buyers. And you bring that below an average of 40,000 euros. With Milano, everything will change - you will have an important effect on gender mix, and average price paid, depending on the countries and region.”

What about the UK? You’re still undecided on whether to sell the petrol hybrid here. Why is that?

“I don’t want to disclose information that we’re not absolutely sure on. But you’re not an easy country to deal with; I love the UK, but it’s not easy! One minute I’m being told we have to hit a certain percentage of EV sales in March, the next there is maybe some movement or flexibility. It’s the same in other places too, of course. I will try to face the expectations of the customers and I know they are not black and white - they can be grey as well.”

Now, what do you think of Alfa's latest arrival? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section below...