ALFA ROMEO JUNIOR ELETTRICA

After the thrilling Veloce, we meet Alfa's new small EV in standard guise

- JAMES DISDALE

TESTED 9.10.24, LINCOLNSHIRE DELIVERIES NOW

Is that a spring we can detect in Alfa Romeo's step? After decades of looking like a brand on the brink, it finally appears to be eyeing the future with its head held high, rather than peering through its fingers in a state of panic. And it's largely down to the arrival of this Junior Elettrica.

Sure, an electric B-segment crossover might not be the car that red-blooded Alfisti were holding out for, but it could be the one that delights Turinese bean-counters by putting Alfa back in the black.

With its Tonale C-crossover, Giulia saloon and Stelvio SUV, Alfa has about 30% of new car buyers covered, but such is the popularity of small SUVs that its top brass reckon the Junior Elettrica now gives it twice the market coverage.

They hope to both attract new attention and lure back former flames that left after the demise of the brand's former compact contenders, the Mito and Giulietta hatchbacks, a few years ago.

In fact, Alfa's UK division is so confident of a sales surge that it's in the process of appointing six new dealers for 2025, taking the network to nearly 30 in total.

So is the Junior Elettrica really going to have all those new sales assistants rushed off their feet? An early taster at Alfa's Balocco test track in Italy left us impressed, but that was the 278bhp Veloce version, which receives quite a few suspension tweaks aimed at dialling up driver delight. That will take only about 20% of Junior Elettrica sales in the UK, while the more mundane, mid-ranking Speciale we're driving here in the UK for the first time is predicted to be three times more popular.