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Alfa Romeo Milano or Junior? Here’s what the Customs and Monopolies Agency says

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Alfa Romeo Milano or Junior? Here's what the Customs and Monopolies Agency says

The Alfa Romeo Milano case renamed Junior: the words of the car group, the minister's reaction and the slides from the Customs Agency which show that…

Rebranding a brand is no walk in the park. It involves costs that are difficult to imagine, given that the old name must be deleted from brochures, leaflets and, in the case of cars, even from body shops, to be replaced by the new one, which is probably second in popularity in the marketing research that led to the choice of principal.

THOSE FIVE DAYS OF ALFA ROMEO MILANO

Stellantis took five days to decide whether to keep the name Milano for the latest Alfa Romeo model or change it following the controversy triggered by the Made in Italy minister Adolfo Urso . In the end the latter option prevailed.

The person directly involved celebrates and immediately comments: "I think it's good news that arrives on the day of Made in Italy which enhances the work, the enterprise, the typicality and the peculiarity of the Italian product that everyone envies us in the world".

FOR URSO “GOOD NEWS THAT CAN CHANGE THE COURSE” (BUT IT DOESN'T SAY HOW)

Although he does not explain the terms, for the owner of what was once the Ministry of Economic Development the change of name from Milan to Junior would be "good news, which I think can enhance work and enterprise and allow us to reverse the broken, also with regards to car production in our country".

THE WORDS OF THE CEO OF ALFA ROMEO

On the opposite front, the CEO of the historic Milanese brand, Jean-Philippeprendito (in the photo): “Carlos Tavares called me over the weekend, our decisions will not be affected by this episode: when we decide to store a car the decision is made in very precise manner, based on figures in an ad hoc committee, therefore it is not imaginable that a government representative, of any government, could have an impact on this type of decisions".

In short, Alfa Romeo abandons Milan and becomes Junior precisely to avoid changing factories. Almost as if to underline that the electric SUV can still be made elsewhere, even at the cost of this sudden change in name.

FEARS OF LEARNING

“Now let's start again hoping that the matter ends here,” hissed the brand's CEO, who then added: “Nobody told me on Friday to change the name but when you breathe a certain air you have to do it. We don't want to pay fines, the company's money is too important, I don't want to pay for the right to import cars and I don't want to see my cars blocked, so in the right spirit I change my name everywhere in the world."

Repubblica , as Start had reported, had mocked Urso's exit, explaining that his joke did not have the slightest legal basis . Yet the words of the CEO of the four-wheeled Biscione seem to say the opposite. It is impossible to say whether or not there was room for action in a case: it is a technical matter for lawyers, and given that it is an anomalous dispute, it would still be a matter of jurisprudence yet to be written.

What is certain is that Stellantis did not want to get to the point of confrontation. Or perhaps he wanted to underline the decision to move away from the country even at the cost of granting this small victory to the Italian executive. But, as Learned said, the Italian-French group didn't even want to run the risk of finding itself entangled in a dispute that was a harbinger of a thousand or more unknowns.

WAS ALFA ROMEO MILANO VIOLATING THE LAW?

It is known, as it is possible to read in these materials on the reference standards , that it is not possible to claim national origin ("made in Italy") for those goods for which a significant part of the production process was carried out abroad . It is not known whether Milan for its part constituted in re ipsa an indication of Italian origin. And, probably, in a possible trial the lawyers would have focused on this point.

A slippery slope, given that the law says that if the product has foreign origin it is not possible not only to affix the indication "made in Italy", but also other fallacious indications. If consumer protection is then brought into play, it is easy to play on interpretative extensions: the Alfa Romeo brand is Italian, Milan is one of the most famous Italian cities, it is easy for the tandem to instill the reasonable belief in those who purchase that they are buying a cars made in Italy.

THE RISK OF BLOCKAGE AT CUSTOMS

Perhaps Stellantis even had the fear that the State would take advantage of the Madrid Agreement which allows goods to be blocked at the border for which there is a well-founded suspicion that they bear a false or misleading indication of origin. In that case it is possible to trigger an administrative detention upon their introduction into the territory of the State by the competent customs offices. Furthermore, the issue is not only civil-administrative in nature, potentially having criminal implications.

Article 517 of the Criminal Code identifies the following conduct: “Whoever offers for sale or otherwise puts into circulation intellectual works or industrial products, with national or foreign names, trademarks or distinctive signs, capable of misleading the buyer regarding the origin, provenance or quality of the work or product, is punished, if the fact is not considered a crime by another provision of law, with imprisonment of up to two years and a fine of up to twenty thousand euros".

Does all this mean that Stellantis would be doomed? Not necessarily. However, it means that Urso's joke was perhaps not so far-fetched. Especially with reference to the fallacious indication of origin. In these slides from the Customs Agency it is possible to read related examples: "Use of signs, figures or anything else that may lead one to believe that the product is of Italian origin, even if the foreign origin and provenance of the products is indicated (e.g. Italian flag, Colosseum, Italian Style, name and address of the Italian company)”.

By mere logic, if an Egyptian entrepreneur who makes loaves of bread is prohibited from producing bread whose foreign origin is made explicit but bearing the "Colosseum" brand, perhaps complete with the Italian flag on the packaging, in the same way Stellantis should be prohibited from producing a car in Poland and call it Milan.

In light of this very rapid excursus in the legislation, the words of the CEO of Alfa Romeo ("We don't want to pay fines, the company's money is too important, I don't want to pay for the right to import cars and I don't want to see my cars blocked , therefore in the correct spirit I change my name everywhere in the world") take on a very different meaning and it is understandable why Stellantis preferred to reach into its wallet and pay for the last minute rebranding rather than gamble and risk a lawsuit that would have resulted in prevent cars from being blocked at customs in one of its main markets.

One thing is certain: with this move that surprised everyone, Stellantis made it clear that it was willing to face unexpected expenses of a considerable magnitude rather than move Alfa Romeo production to Italy. Between the two litigants, Tavares and Urso, the third, represented by the Fiat workers, certainly does not enjoy it.

This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/smartcity/alfa-romeo-milano-o-junior-ecco-cosa-dice-lagenzia-delle-dogane-e-dei-monopoli/ on Tue, 16 Apr 2024 13:50:08 +0000.