The 2026 Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida. Photo: James Coleman.
Alfa Romeo needs a saviour. All up, it sold a piddling 463 cars across Australia last year. The Giulia sedan and Stelvio SUV are ambling along, nearly 10 years after they were first introduced. Then there’s the fact you can’t even buy one in Canberra any more, after the local Gulson’s dealership bailed out last year.
But this looks to change.
Because tucked away under the sales for the Jeep Avenger – as a fellow Stellantis product – was this: the Alfa Romeo Junior, which arrived in Australia in July. And these past six months alone means Alfa’s sales for 2025 actually grew 0.7 per cent.
In the words of Patrick Bateman, however, “You gotta pump those numbers up, those are rookie numbers”.
Everyone should buy an Alfa Romeo Junior. Because it might be the most fun you can have in an SUV for the money.
What is it?
These are not the positive thoughts I had about the Junior when it was first revealed overseas, however.
Something about it being a Peugeot underneath – built on the same Stellantis platform as the Peugeot 2008, with the same 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo hybrid arrangement, electric powertrain and interior switchgear – made me shudder.
There was a rebellious streak which felt very Italian though.
Alfa originally wanted to call this car Milano, until the Italian government overheard and ruled you couldn’t name a car after Milan when it’s built in Tychy, Poland. But the designers, clearly a bit stroppy, decided to name all of the paint colours after Italian cities instead. So you have Red Brera, Blue Navigli, Black Tortona, Arese Steel and my Galleria Light Grey. Ha.
All the paint colours are named after Italian cities. Photo: James Coleman.
There are two models, the Ibrida hybrid and the Elettrica … um EV. But when I visited the Junior Open Day at Gulson’s last year, a salesperson suggested I not bother with the EV. Alfa itself also expects the hybrid to account for 85 per cent of its global Junior sales.
There’s also the fact the hybrid costs from $46,990 and the EV is another $11K on top of that. Yeah nah. If you want an electric Alfa, buy a Fiat instead.
What’s it’s like to live with?
I’m not sure the Junior will go down as one of history’s prettiest Alfas. But it is unique. And has all the right hallmarks. I especially love the cursive Alfa Romeo across its triangular Scudetto grille – exactly like the old racing Alfas of the 1930s.
As per its new Repubblica-Italiana-sanctioned name, the Junior is a very small car. So space inside is tight and the boot mostly useless. Not for no reason does Alfa call this a hatchback more than an SUV.
And all around you are familiar plastics. I wondered where I’d seen the gear lever and the indicator stalks and the infotainment graphics before – it was in the Peugeot 5008. Build quality is pretty ordinary too.
Peugeot switchgear also means it loses Alfa’s characteristic DNA drive mode dial, a clever acronym for Dynamic, Natural and Advanced Efficiency. As it is, the dash display still reads DNA but you’re given a boring switch that simply says Drive Mode.
And then to try to cover their tracks, they’ve whacked the Alfa’s Biscione snake logo everywhere.
I counted eight snakes at various locations inside. Photo: James Coleman.
But really, the poorest built car I’ve ever handled was a Lamborghini, where the entire door card felt like it was going to come away. So in an Alfa, it’s to be expected. Because there are more important things. It’d just be nice to know the cheap feeling in this case wasn’t related to being French. Because the French strike, while the Italians pause work to make love.
Right from the outset, it’s clear the Junior has a sportier edge than any other SUV in its price range. Tighter handling. Faster steering. A more responsive drivetrain. It’s very light too – at 1280 kg, it’s less than a VW Golf GTI.
It’s not particularly fast on paper, with a 0-100 km/h time of 8.9 seconds. But I’d argue it’s right in the sweet spot, where you can use all of it all of the time and have a blast that doesn’t end in prison.
It’s when you push it that it starts to feel a bit blunt. And the steering a bit fake. It’s got some measure of regenerative braking too, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to turn it up or down, or off entirely.
Similarly, the engine really only snarls when you put your foot into it – the rest of the time the Junior sounds more like the office printer.
The verdict
Last year, I put my money where my mouth is and bought an Alfa Romeo: the Stelvio, which – while an SUV and therefore the devil incarnate – has earned some measure of hushed respect from the purest of Alfa purists. No other SUV feels so alive to drive.
It does look Alfa, especially with the three-piece light graphics. Photo: James Coleman.
The Junior isn’t quite there. But when you consider its rivals include the Lexus LBX and the Volvo EX30 (and even China’s fairly generic Geely is not far away at $40,990), it presents a case far more solid that its plastics.
For the money, it’s the most fun you’ll have in an SUV. And that makes it a deserving Alfa.
So everyone – or at least, fairly small people – should buy a Junior as their second car. We can save Alfa together, so they can again start making the cars we really want …
The Junior fitting in at the Canberra Italian Cultural Centre in Forrest. Photo: James Coleman.
2026 Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida
- $49,880 (as tested)
- 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol, electric motor, 107 kW / 230 Nm
- 6-speed dual-clutch automatic, front-wheel drive (FWD)
- 4.1 litres per 100 km claimed average fuel consumption (5.7 as tested)
- 0-100 km/h in 8.9 seconds
- 1280 kg
- 5-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty
- Not yet rated for safety
Pros:
- Sharp, sporty handling
- Lightweight and lively feel
- Distinctive Italian styling
Cons:
- Cheap-feeling interior plastics
- Cramped cabin and tiny boot
- Steering feels a bit artificial
Thanks to Alfa Romeo Australia for providing this car for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with Alfa Romeo Australia.
Original Article published by James Coleman on Region Canberra.
