Ford Capri to debut, but a doubt arises: can a German car have an Italian name? (Alfa Romeo Milano docet)

15 April 2024, a date that will remain etched in automotive history: Alfa Romeo changed the name of its new model, the long-awaited Milano b-suv, the Biscione's first electric car, making it Junior. This was to put an end to the controversy sparked off by Adolfo Urso, the minister for enterprise and Made in Italy, who claimed that "a car called 'Milano' cannot be produced in Poland". After all, the car is built in Tychy along with the Fiat 600 and the Jeep Avenger, with which it shares the CMP2 platform, with quite a few differences. According to the Minister, on the Alfa Romeo Milano it would have been appropriate to apply the Italian law of 2003 on Italian Sounding, a regulation that prohibits the placing of indications that mislead the consumer about the origin of a product. There are still many doubts on the legal point, but Alfa Romeo, by a decision, not without bitterness, by CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato, changed the name from Milano to Junior and extinguished the querelle, despite the marketing campaign already underway and a lot of money spent. With the benefit of hindsight, the Alfa Romeo Milano, which debuted on the market these days, has been given worldwide visibility precisely because of the huge uproar aroused by the issue. Because never before last April had a car been seen to change its name because of political wrangling in the run-up to its launch, the only precedent being thesecond-generation Fiat Panda, which was supposed to be called Gingo, but was christened (thankfully!) still Panda because of a name-registration issue with Renault over its similarity to Twingo.

Now comes a doubt: and a very strong one. In a few days Ford will launch the new Capri. In fact, on 10 July, the Blue Oval will unveil its unprecedented suv coupé based on the Volkswagen MEB platform under an extinguished agreement between the two groups that takes the name of a legendary car: the Ford Capri, a coupé that was produced for 17 years from 1969 to 1986 and was a bit like the European Mustang. Now a doubt comes to mind: can a foreign car produced in Cologne, Germany, by a brand like Ford that can't be called any more foreign than one of the most beautiful places in Italy, one of the most majestic symbols of the Bel Paese: probably not. The doubt is strong, not only in the light of what happened with Alfa Romeo Milano, but also with Xiaomi for the name (moreover for internal use) of the 'Modena' platform for electric cars (with the ministry protesting to the Chinese group) and with the seizures at the port of Livorno of the Fiat Topolino 'Dolce Vita' microcars with the Italian flag sticker. It is true that Ford already used the name Capri years ago, just as it still uses Puma (with its marked Italian sounding), but beyond the legal aspect, perhaps this is not the time for double standards. And indeed Ford could very well call Taunus its new battery-powered suv coupe derived from the Explorer.