Alfa Romeo Milano: Crucial crossover shaping company's fate

• Published date: 16 April 2024
• Author: KEINAN COHEN/WALLA
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Imparato spoke with us at the launch event of one of the most important models of this manufacturer in recent years - the Milano. It is a small crossover, called the B SUV, positioned below the Tonale and using the parent company Stellantis' platform. The same platform that also serves Opel Mokka, Peugeot 2008, Fiat 600, Citroen DS3, and Jeep Avenger, and like all of these, it offers both petrol and pure electric propulsion. Alfa Romeo is well aware of the not-so-simple reputational starting point and promises that the moment we drive it, we will understand that the platform is the same but the configuration is completely different

And just before we tell you about the technical details, what it does and how, we need to explain the role of this model, at least in the eyes of the manufacturer and the conglomerate. Alfa Romeo, despite all its illustrious past and the luxurious cars in it, is a manufacturer that can no longer continue to live on the fumes of nostalgia. In 2023, Alfa produced only about 68,000 cars, even Porsche sold for five times more. Lexus sells over 800,000 cars a year and the Germans over 2 million each. Alfa must sell many more cars, and its goal is to grow to about 300,000 cars a year within 4-5 years.

"Without doubling our electric vehicles by 2030 we are dead," said Imparato openly and without hiding the not simple truth that stands before the active manufacturers in Europe. There, a fine is imposed which may reach thousands and tens of thousands of euros for each car under a formula that calculates the weight of the car and its emissions. Therefore, Alfa announced in 2021 its 10-year plan, a decade in which it will transition from 0 electric cars to 0 pollutant emissions by 2030. This includes presenting a new model each year since, such as the Tonale in 2022, the Stradale in 2023, this year with the Milano, a new Stelvio in 2025 (which will use the 3008 platform and offer up to 700 km of electric range) and then the Berlina and the new Giulia.

And the primary goal of these models in the immediate and current stage is not to be a homage to the manufacturer's history - but simply to provide it with economic stability. "Alfa Romeo, that I joined," he says, "had two problems - it was not economic and its cars were not good." And again, when he says "not good" he does not mean the dynamic features of the Stelvio and Giulia - but mainly their ability to provide the "performance" I mentioned at the beginning of the article.

And this is...