"That's forbidden!"

Italy makes trouble for Alfa because of production in Poland

(Bild: Alfa Romeo)

Alfa Romeo has presented its latest model - and is encountering resistance from the Italian government. The reason: it is to be produced in Poland. This is not permitted, says Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, because the car bears an Italian name: Milano.

The Alfa Romeo brand, which is owned by Stellantis and is rooted in Italian automotive history, presented the "Milano" on Wednesday, which is named after the city of Milan, where Alfa Romeo was founded in 1910. It will be built at the Tychy plant in Poland - the first Alfa Romeo model to be manufactured entirely outside Italy.

"Milano is misleading"
"A car called Milano cannot be produced in Poland. This is forbidden under Italian law," said the minister in Turin. He was referring to a law from 2003 that is directed against "Italian-sounding" products that are not manufactured in Italy.

"This law states that no information may be given that misleads the consumer. A car with the name Milano must therefore be manufactured in Italy. Otherwise it is a misleading claim, which is not permitted under Italian law," said Urso.

The government led by right-wing populist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has been at war with the French-Italian car manufacturer Stellantis for months. The government is exerting pressure for a plan to increase domestic car production to one million units per year. The CEO of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, explained that producing the "Milano" in Poland instead of Italy will reduce the selling price by 10,000 euros.

The Stellantis car group was created in January 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and the French PSA Group. It includes brands such as Opel, Peugeot, Fiat and Alfa Romeo. The group employs around 43,000 people in Italy - before the 2021 merger, it employed more than 51,000.