Unveiled in 2023, the entry-level Alfa Romeo Junior is starting to succeed in seller heaps on the opposite aspect of the pond. Whereas we have been initially advised that the mannequin would not make the journey to our aspect, the Italian model confirmed it is asking sellers whether or not they need it.
“We’ll present the Junior Veloce to our U.S. sellers, asking them in the event that they see potential for a fun-to-drive small electrical hatch in choose markets akin to California, Florida, and different CARB states,” Daniele Tiago Guzzafame, Alfa Romeo’s head of product, advised Automotive Information Europe (subscription required). Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Washington are among the many states that comply with CARB guidelines.
EV gross sales should not choosing up as shortly as many assumed, and the checklist of carmakers softening their EV targets is rising, however Alfa Romeo thinks the Junior — which was generally known as the Milano till the Italian authorities requested a reputation change — can win over choose patrons. Its rivals would come with the Volvo EX30, which was lately delayed, and the electrical model of the brand new Mini Cooper. Each EVs are at the moment made in China, so they might be topic to a 102.5% tariff if offered in the USA, and manufacturing in Europe will not begin till 2025 for the Volvo and 2026 for the Mini. Alfa Romeo builds the Junior in Poland, that means it could solely have to pay a 2.5% tariff if it imported the mannequin.
Beating key rivals to the market and skirting tariffs might give Alfa Romeo a “window of alternative,” Guzzafame mentioned. The query that is still is whether or not the Junior would enchantment to an American viewers. Extra of a tall hatchback than an SUV, it stretches about 164.2 inches lengthy, 70.1 inches large, and 59.1 inches tall, that means it is about 14 inches shorter than the Tonale many American drivers already contemplate small. And whereas the European vary consists of a number of fashions, together with a hybrid, Alfa Romeo targeted on the Veloce EV in its assertion.
On this software, the heritage-laced Veloce nameplate denotes a 281-horsepower electrical motor linked to a 54-kilowatt-hour battery pack. It delivers a 5.9-second dash from 0 to 62 mph, however driving vary is anticipated to examine in at roughly 205 miles when examined on the cycle utilized in Europe, which usually yields increased figures than the American testing cycle. An EPA vary of lower than 200 miles is feasible.
There is not any phrase but on when Alfa Romeo will determine whether or not to carry the Junior to the USA.
