The Alfa Romeo Juniorhas just been launched in Australia, giving the Italian brand its first sub-$50,000 model since the MiTo and then Giulietta hatchbacks were axed several years ago, but it hasn’t ruled out price cuts for the electrified light SUV in future.
Priced from $45,900 and available in Australia in one high-spec trim level with either mild-hybrid or fully electric powertrains, the Junior is Alfa Romeo’s re-entry to the compact car segment, and the latter is the historic brand’s first-ever electric vehicle (EV) to be sold in Australia.
Meanwhile, fellow Stellantis brand Jeep launched the pint-size Avenger electric SUV, which shares its platform with the Junior, as its first Australian EV in late 2024. It was initially priced from $53,990 plus on-road costs, before base pricing was reduced to $49,990 plus ORCs at launch, and following slow sales the cheapest version can now be had for just $40,000 drive-away with premium paint while stocks last.
Jeep claims that makes the Avenger Australia’s most affordable electric SUV, though it will lose that title in November when another Stellantis-backed brand, Leapmotor, launches its new B10 small electric SUV priced from just $38,990 drive-away.
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Speaking at the local launch of the mild-hybrid Junior Ibrida, Alfa Romeo Australia product marketing manager Bridget Thomson said future price cuts for the brand’s first and so far only EV aren’t out of the question.
“Like I mentioned with the sub-$50,000 pricing for the Ibrida, we’ve done a lot of work to make sure that we’re hitting the sweet spot in that market,” she told media.
“So the Elettrica is actually already a little bit cheaper than the Avenger; we’ve done a lot of work to make sure it’s hitting that sweet spot.
“In regards to future pricing, we’ll have to wait and see. We’re always looking at what the market’s doing, what consumers are doing, and we’ll respond appropriately.”
At launch, the battery-powered Junior Elettrica is priced at $57,900 before on-road costs, making it cheaper than only the top-spec Jeep Avenger Summit ($60,990 before on-roads), with the cheaper Limited and Longitude normally priced at $54,990 and $49,990 before on-roads respectively.
When asked whether a substantial sales skew towards the Ibrida mild-hybrid would spark internal discussions about price reductions for the Elettrica EV in future, Ms Thomson said: “not necessarily, they both have their place in the lineup”.
“Sales mix, I don’t think will particularly come into play [with pricing]. We have a really strong relationship with our dealers, and they’re talking to our customers every single day,” she said.
“So it’s about making sure that we’re sitting right in the market, and we’ll continue to analyse.”
For context, the Elettrica has accounted for roughly 16 per cent of global Junior sales since its overseas launch in 2024.
Much like potential Elettrica price cuts, Ms Thomson didn’t rule out the possibility of a cheaper Junior to undercut the Ibrida, but said the focus at launch remained on introducing a single, high-spec trim to the Australian market.
However, just as Jeep Australia is considering introducing a cheaper mild-hybrid version of the Avenger, Alfa Romeo Australia says it could release a cheaper lower-spec version of the Junior.
“What we see with our other models is a lot of consumers are driven to the Veloce variant, so the highest spec variant. Based on that information, we wanted to focus on a high-spec variant [for Junior from launch],” said Ms Thomson.
“Who’s to say if we bring in a lower spec model in the future? I wouldn’t rule it out, but we’re very comfortable with launching with our best foot forward.”