THE ALL-NEW ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR (which you may recall launched as the Milano until Stellantis realised they were in breach of EU rules) is making its way to Australia, as the latest extension of the Alfa Romeo lineup, introducing a new charge of sportiness for Alfa Romeo. Landing in Australia in the third quarter of this year, the Alfa Romeo Junior signifies an iconic, electric step for the company.
Alfa Romeo will offer a comprehensive powertrain line-up, with both the Junior ‘Ibrida’, a hybrid vehicle, and ‘Elettrica’, an electric vehicle, configurations, to meet all customers’ needs. The Alfa Romeo Junior is a big milestone in the brand’s electrification journey, with its mission being to win over a new generation, through a new design language, whilst still appealing to old-fashioned Alfisti fans. As the brand returns to the compact car segment, the Alfa Romeo Junior will blend together sportiness, technology, and comfort.
Exterior Design
The Alfa Romeo Junior has been designed by the Alfa Romeo Centro Stile located in Turin. It is based on a reinterpretation of the brand’s typical stylistic features. Alfa Romeo’s stylists have modelled the exterior ‘skin’ with artisanal care on the mechanical parts, completely detaching themselves from the concepts of cold rationality in vogue in the class, to breathe life into a sinuous design that catches the eye at first sight.
The new Junior is a perfect manifesto of the brand’s design philosophy. With compact dimensions – a length of 4.17m, width of 1.78m, and height of 1.5m – the Alfa Romeo Junior is a balance of functional beauty and an unparalleled heritage. Junior boasts a strong identity, made up of several features linking to classic Alfa Romeo design language. The front face is anchored with the “leggenda scudetto” (shield), this iconic and recognisable symbol being accentuated by a black grille with Alfa Romeo signature in acrylic, paying homage to the Alfa Romeo sports cars of the 1920’s and 30’s. A contribution is made to Junior’s powerful personality by the bold ‘look’ of the front, with ‘3+3’ adaptive full LED matrix headlights. The lower part of the front maintains the two side air intakes found on Tonale, Stelvio and Giulia, which alongside the “scudetto”, form what has been referred to as the “trilobo” for generations.
The Alfa Romeo Junior’s sleek and dynamic profile is a testament to the brand’s commitment to excellence in design, as well as the carefully crafted bodywork reducing drag and improving overall aerodynamics, enhancing both performance and efficiency. The fabled “biscione” (serpent) has been lasered into the C-pillar with a luxurious finish which transitions from matte to gloss. This feature, as well the iconic “coda tronca” (truncated tail) allow this new design to pay homage to iconic cars such as the legendary Guilia TZ, which also allowing Alfa Romeo to step into a new era. The coda tronca is functional to improve aerodynamics, ensuring greater speed, agility, and efficiency, whilst also integrating a lighting signature which is coherent with the face of the vehicle.
Interior Design
The same inspiration of pure sportiness which facilitated the exterior design can be found inside the car, where the standout features are the Italian attention to detail, the use of the finest materials and the placement of all controls to all be within the driver’s reach. This driver centric design allows the driver to have a unique and sporty driving experience.
The 10.25-inch instrument cluster and it’s historical “cannocchiale” (telescope) design creates a direct visual connection between driver and machine. In the middle of the dashboard and oriented towards the driver, a 10.25-inch infotainment display system has been developed to work with widgets, graphic components designed for intuitive interaction with all the features, which can be customized via quick and easy drag and drop. The infotainment system supports the latest in “My Alfa Connect” connected services as well as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
From the stitching on the seats to the placement of controls, every detail reflects Alfa Romeo’s dedication to creating a vehicle that is not only beautiful, but also a joy to drive. The Alfa Romeo Junior’s interior design extends to comfort and ergonomics when driving. The supportive “spiga” seats are a combination of leatherette and cloth, with the driver getting 6-way electronic adjustment with 2-way lumbar, as well as massaging functionality. To further embellish the interior, and overall driving experience, the air conditioning vents in the shape of a “quadrifoglio” (four-leaf clover), as well as the air vents, cannochiale display, and the central tunnel being enhanced with 8-colour interior ambient lighting.
Ibrida
The Alfa Romeo Junior in “Ibrida” (hybrid) combines sportiness, technology, and comfort. The internal combustion engine takes on the 1.2-liter 3-cylinder Miller cycle engine with variable-geometry turbo and distribution chain for maximum reliability. The electrical component consists of a 48-volt lithium-ion battery and a 21kW electric motor built into the innovative 6-speed dual-clutch gearbox, which works together with the inverter and transmission control unit to ensure maximum efficiency. This advanced powertrain allows the car to go from zero to 100 km/h in just 8.9 seconds, with the top speed of 206km.
Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida offers an extremely smooth driving experience to move around the city in electric mode more than 50 percent of the time; electric driving is possible not only during parking manoeuvres or at low speeds in urban areas, but also out of town with a limited load at up to 150km/h. The electric motor provides additional power when needed and regenerates energy during braking phases.
Junior Ibrida has the ability to provide exclusive EV performance, including:
- e-Launch: starts the vehicle using only the electric motor, when starting up or restarting at traffic lights.
- e-Queueing: the electric motor provides the start-up normally seen in electric vehicles, at a speed that can vary from 0 km/h to the equivalent of the petrol engine idling in first gear, or in reverse (for example when manoeuvring).
- e-Creeping: the vehicle can keep going in a traffic jam, following a ‘stop & go’ pattern in full electric mode.
- e–Parking: simplifies parking manoeuvres, which can be carried out using electric propulsion only, to ensure a practical and quiet experience.
This innovative 48-volt hybrid technology allows for impressive fuel efficiency, consuming just 4.1L/100km (according to NEDC test cycle).
Elettrica
In the electric version of the Junior, Alfa Romeo has selected a new-generation power source, combining an electric motor (“Hybrid Synchronous Motor”) and a latest-generation battery. With its high power, torque, and specific calibration of the electric powertrain, the new compact sports car offers uncompromising driving pleasure with segment-leading dynamics.
The heart of the new Alfa Romeo Junior is a front-mounted electric motor that produces power output of 115kW and 260Nm of torque, coupled with a 54kWh battery pack. It goes from zero to 100km/h in just 9.0 seconds. Driving range is up to 407km, based on the WLTP test cycle.
Recharging the new Junior is extremely simple, with the vehicle supporting three different charging modes. Via a 100kW Mode 4 cable in direct current, connected to fast public charge, approximately ten minutes of charge is enough to provide travel distance of 100km; or approximately 30 minutes is sufficient to charge the batteries from 10 to 80 percent charge approximately.
Weighing only 1545kg and having an optimal mass distribution, Junior enters the world of electrified cars like a true Alfa Romeo.
Driving Dynamics and Drive Modes
The team that coordinated the development of the driving dynamics is the same one that developed the Giulia GTA at the Balocco testing centre in Vercelli province, with the clear aim of the new Junior achieving best-in-class road holding, made possible by specific technical solution such as: a direct steering ratio of 15.8, specially calibrated to be extremely precise, to enhance its exceptional road holding qualities.
All this forms the basis of a one-of-a-kind compact car with a pure, recognisably Alfa Romeo sportiness.
Alfa Romeo Junior adopts and reinvents the DNA driving modes for the electrified era. “Dynamic” mode, partly made possible by specific steering and accelerator calibration, offers the utmost performance and driving pleasure. In a careful balance between performance and comfort, “Natural” model is designed for everyday use, while “Advanced Efficiency” is calibrated for maximum energy efficiency by reducing consumption without affecting driving pleasure.
Safety Features
The Alfa Romeo Junior is designed to meet the needs of customers who, today more than ever, are looking for technology, comfort, and safety in a sporty vehicle, in addition to high performance.
The all-new Alfa Romeo Junior offers an array of driving assistance features, with the Junior boasting impressive Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) such as Level 2 autonomous driving, Adaptive Cruise Control and Active Lane Management.
In this way, support is provided to the driver in order to help the vehicle follow and remain in the centre of the lane and at a safe distance from the vehicle preceding it. Plus, the Level 2 autonomous driving includes Traffic Jam Assist, in the case of heavy traffic.
The new model also offers Traffic Sign Recognition, which reads and interprets road signs; Automatic Emergency Braking with pedestrian and cyclist recognition, which slows the vehicle down to a halt to mitigate the risk of possible accidents; Drowsy Driver Alert, which alerts the driver when a moment of drowsiness affects attention; Blind Spot Monitoring which monitors a driver’s blind spot, Lane Keeping Assist, which alerts the driver when the car has gone out of the lane; 360-degree parking sensors with Active Park Assist and 180-degree rear camera with drone view.
Additional ADAS features include:
- Autonomous Emergency Brake Control with Pedestrian & Cyclist Detection
- Intelligent Speed Control with Traffic Sign Recognition
- Automatic Headlamp On
- High Beam Assist
- Rain Sensing Wipers
- Seatbelt Reminder
The Alfa Romeo Junior is equipped with six airbags. These include two single-stage front driver and passenger, two supplemental side airbag curtains (SABIC) which offer side-impact protection to front and rear seat outboard occupants in addition to that provided by the body structure, and two seat mounted front pelvic/thorax/shoulder side airbags.
Model Range
| Alfa Romeo Junior is offered in a singular trim at launch, available in both Ibrida and Elettrica powertrains. |
Exterior:
- 18-inch Petali Diamond Cut Alloy Wheels
- Automatic Full LED Matrix Headlights
- “Leggenda scudetto” Front Grille
- Body Colour Door Handles
- Glossy Black Body Kit including Glossy Black Exterior Mirrors
- LED Taillamps
- Two-Tone Black Roof
- Privacy Glass
Interior:
- “Spiga” Seats featuring Black Cloth & Leatherette with Red Finishes
- Leather Steering Wheel
- 60:40 Split Rear Seats
- Front & Rear Floor Mats
- Aluminium Pedals & Door Sills
- Height Adjustable Cargo Floor
Driver Assistance Systems:
- Level 2 Autonomous Driving
- Front, Rear & Side Parking Sensors
- Reversing Camera with Dynamic Lines
- Intelligent Adaptive Cruise Control
- Blind Spot Assist
- Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) with Vulnerable Road User Detection
- Lane Support System (LDW + LKA)
- Driver Behaviour Warning
- 6 Airbags
- Traffic Sign Recognition & Intelligent Speed Control
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System
- Rain Sensing Wipers
- Seat Belt Reminder
Comfort Features:
- 10.25-Inch Touchscreen Infotainment and Navigation System
- Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto
- DAB+
- 6 Speakers
- 10.25-Inch “Cannocchiale” TFT Instrument Cluster
- Alfa Connected Services with Connected Navigation
- Wireless Charging Pad with “Biscione” Logo
- Front USB A/C Ports
- Rear USB C Port
- Keyless Entry and Go
- Single Zone Air Conditioning
- Electric Park Brake with Auto Hold
- 6-Way Power-Adjustable Front Seats with 2-Way Lumbar
- Driver Massaging Seat
- 6-Way Manual-Adjustable Front Passenger Seat
- Heated Front Seats
- Power Liftgate with Handsfree Function
- Frameless Auto-Dimming Rear View Mirror
Elettrica Specific Features:
- Mode 3 Charge Cable
- 11kW AC Onboard Charger
- 100kW DC Charger
- CCS Combo Type 2 Charge Port
Ibrida Specific Features:
- Paddle Shifters
- Dual Tailpipes
Exterior Colours
Alfa Romeo Junior is available in six distinct colours and offers the two-tone roof as standard, all inspired by districts in Milan, Italy.
Interior Colours
Alfa Romeo Junior is available in a singular interior option, named “Spiga” made of leatherette and cloth featuring a diagonal degrading black-red pattern on the seat.