2026 Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida review

Alfa Romeo Junior Cons

• Quite pricey alongside rivals
• Expensive servicing
• Tight second row

When was the last time you thought about Alfa Romeo? Unless you're an owner, or a prospective buyer, it has probably been quite a while.

And that's a shame, because the historic Italian auto brand is steeped in heritage and boasts a colourful portfolio of gorgeous, iconic models and race cars, including but not limited to the 33 Stradale, the Montreal and, more recently, the 8C Competizione and Giulia Quadrifoglio.

Those cars are known for their sleek, sexy silhouettes, and while they vary in exclusivity, purpose, and certainly price, they all embody a particularly sporty essence that Alfa Romeo instills into every one of its cars with great pride.

But at the other end of the spectrum are the more 'regular' models, the ones that sell in Europe's most affordable market segments to drive sales and profits in order to make those halo cars possible. Alfa has a long history there too, with models like the discontinued Giulietta being a much-loved, red-blooded hatchback.

In Australia, the brand isn't quite as well-known or widespread as it is in Europe, and hasn't operated in those smaller sales segments for the past few years. But that has just changed with the arrival of its newest global model: the Alfa Romeo Junior.

While the Junior name is a subtle nod to the GT 1300 Junior sports coupe of the 1960s, this new light SUV was actually meant to be called the Milano, referencing Alfa's origins in Milan. However, Italian regulations state that imported and exported goods are illegal if they bear false or misleading origin labelling, and the Junior is built in Poland… so Junior it is.

The Junior holds a much more important distinction than just a fun name though, because it's also Alfa Romeo's first electric vehicle (EV), a model available with a fully electric powertrain. The Elettrica, as it's called, and the mild-hybrid Ibrida form Alfa Romeo Australia's two-variant, one-trim Junior range, and while they're not sports cars by any means, Alfa says it worked hard to inject its famous Italian flavour.

Of course, Alfa Romeo is owned by Stellantis, which means the Junior shares a platform with numerous models from six other brands under the global corporation's umbrella, including the Jeep Avenger and Peugeot 2008. Australian sales are slow for these cars, but Alfa will be hoping the Junior can tap into new buyer groups to turn that around.

Both powertrains are now on sale locally, but Alfa Romeo made only the Ibrida available for media to drive at its local launch event. Is the new Junior worth a look, at least in Ibrida form?

The Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida is priced at $45,900 before on-road costs, making it $12,000 cheaper than the all-electric Elettrica flagship.

There's only one trim level available in Australia, which means the Ibrida and Elettrica are practically identical in terms of equipment, if not their differing powertrains.

Given its platform-sharing arrangement, the Junior's most direct rival is the Jeep Avenger, which for now is only available in electric guise in Australia, matching Alfa's Elettrica, but could also be offered here with mild-hybrid power to rival the Ibrida. With three variants, the Avenger EV starts at $49,990 before on-roads and tops out at $60,990 before on-roads, meaning the Junior Elettrica is cheaper than only the Avenger Summit flagship.

Of course, we're focusing here on the mild-hybrid Junior Ibrida, for which there are fewer direct competitors. You could compare other light SUVs like the mild-hybrid Suzuki Fronx ($28,990 before on-roads), but you wouldn't – the Alfa is a much more premium product than many of its segment mates.

Therefore, we propose the Lexus LBX hybrids (from $47,550 before on-roads), the Audi Q2 (from $49,400 before on-roads), and the Peugeot 2008 Hybrid (from $42,490 before on-roads) as closer comparisons, even though they're classified as small SUVs.

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

It isn't fair to compare the Junior to other cars in Australia's light SUV segment, because its interior is leagues above what's offered in class stalwarts like the Mazda CX-3 and Toyota Yaris Cross.

Stellantis fans will notice that much of the Junior's switchgear is carried over from other models based on the same platform, but there's still a uniquely Alfa Romeo quality to the way everything's designed. As such, the quirky gear selector is the only thing from the Stellantis parts bin that really sticks out.

There's a slender, padded centre console that leads into a dashboard with unique shapes and sculptings, headlined by a 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system. This unit blends into a large, piano-black panel that angles towards the driver, though it feels like the unique design has left quite a lot of empty space here.

The screen also sits quite low on the dashboard, which means you have to look down from the road ahead to see it. Navigating the system's native menus can also be confusing, as button shortcuts for the home screen and vehicle settings are initially not visible.

They'll take a moment to find, but they're nestled alongside the air vents above the screen. I felt like facepalming myself after struggling to find these.

Alfa has still found space for a physical climate control array below, which fits nicely on the softened edge that spans the lower portion of the dashboard. This shape leads nicely towards the instrument housing, which feels like a missed opportunity.

The Italian brand made explicit mention of the dual-circle gauge housing, a tradition in its cars. The problem here is that the digital instrument cluster is rectangular, in which the two circles aren't fully displayed.

It would have required a lot of extra effort and money to design and manufacture a screen that fits this housing perfectly, but it would've been a very tasteful detail. As it stands, the way the analogue-style gauges on the screen don't quite fit the circular cutouts looks tacky.

Fortunately, the Junior's excellent steering wheel masks the clumsy display from the comfortable and supportive driver's seat. And it's the only real blemish on this otherwise classy cabin, which features plenty of other Alfa Romeo easter eggs like the clover-inspired air vents.

The leather-wrapped tiller presents a satisfyingly small diameter, befitting of a car with the Junior's diminutive proportions. Its thickness is just right, and the shape of its rim makes it pleasant to hold – and easy to throw around.

Unfortunately, there's a bit of smudge-prone piano-black plastic on its horizontal spokes, visually offset by tasteful metallic accents. These buttons will attract fingerprints, but they're clearly labelled and easy enough to figure out.

Unique here is the way you navigate the various instrument displays, as there's no clear button on the steering wheel. Instead, it's done via a button on the end of the left stalk, which will take some getting used to if you're coming from a car that uses that button to operate its windscreen washer.

On that note, the stalks and everything else in the cabin feel solid. Obviously, we can't comment on long-term sturdiness, but we didn't notice any creaking, and every component that presses or moves did so with a robust feel.

A theme with the Junior is that it feels tiny inside. This isn't surprising for a light SUV, but you will feel like you're sitting much closer to your passenger than in most other cars.

Similarly, there's not much space to put things up front. In front of the passenger is a small glovebox, in the middle is a compact storage box, and there are two cupholders and a moderately sized cubby ahead of the gear selector, which includes a wireless phone charger. It's liveable but by no means generous.

The second row is even tighter. Even at my average 173cm height there wasn't a lot of space between my head and the roof, while the rear door openings are tiny and make it difficult to squeeze in and out.

It is possible to seat three passengers back here on a short drive, but they'd better be comfortable with one another, and modestly sized. As for connectivity, there's a USB-C port in the second row, while the front features a USB-A and USB-C port – one of each.

Upon first impressions, the boot is much of the same. At a quoted 415 litres (it's unspecified whether that's measured to the roof or the top of the rear seats), the Ibrida's boot is supposedly larger than the Mazda CX-3's with just 264 litres, as well as the Lexus LBX with 402 litres, and the Audi Q2 with 405 litres.

Either way there's decent cargo capacity, and the Junior's boot is functional. The load floor is high, flat, and large enough to fit three or four small suitcases slotted in sideways.

It's worth noting that the Elettrica's boot is smaller at 400 litres, almost certainly due to battery packaging. Still, a powered tailgate is standard in both variants, and it has a foot-operated hands-free function if you have the key nearby.

All up, the Junior has an interior that's far more characterful than most other standard SUVs, and it's a pleasant place to spend time in provided you're not forced to share the second row with two other people.

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Powering the Ibrida is a turbocharged 1.2-litre three-cylinder petrol engine producing 100kW of power and 230Nm of torque. The mild-hybrid system incorporates an electric motor outputting 21kW, bringing peak system power to 107kW, with drive sent to the front wheels through a dual-clutch automatic transmission.

We didn't get enough time in any one Junior to record a representative real-world fuel economy figure, but we saw numbers roughly around 6.0L/100km. This varied slightly from car to car.

The Junior Elettrica, meanwhile, gets a single-motor, front-wheel drive powertrain, which is fed by a 54kWh lithium-ion battery. Peak outputs are 115kW and 260Nm, and WLTP driving range is 407km.

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Alfa Romeo cars are supposed to be sporty, offering a driving character that sets them apart from their direct rivals. Expectation is therefore the enemy of the Junior, but not for the reason you might think.

The first thing you notice when jumping into the driver's seat is how compact the car feels. You have a genuine sense of how much (or little) car is around you, which makes it feel more like an oversized go-kart than another run-of-the-mill light SUV.

At the same time, it's unassuming. The somewhat stilted stature tricks your brain into thinking the car will be wobbly and a little unwieldy in bends, with similar road manners to the user-friendly and unintimidating CX-3.

Of course, the mild-hybrid powertrain doesn't help with these expectations. It's easy to stereotype mild-hybrid systems and assume they won't do much more than simply turn the engine off and on from time to time, with an absence of any real electrical oomph to assist the combustion engine.

But the Junior quells many of those preconceptions once you start moving. For one, the powertrain is surprisingly well-sorted, and will actually run on electric power up to a certain speed, or even when coasting on the freeway.

It feels much more like Audi's 'mild-hybrid plus' system than Toyota's V-Active setup, and that's a good thing. We were impressed by how often it was able to drive as an EV, even if there isn't much power on hand, although it can't do it for long.

That's not to say there aren't any quirks, though. You'll notice some stumbling at low speeds, which is a product of the dual-clutch automatic transmission – it's not undriveable, but unfortunately it's not masked by the hybrid gubbins either.

The car also sounds like it sets off from a standstill at very low revs, labouring the engine as the speed picks up. It's a behaviour that almost makes the car feel like it's bogging down, but it does it consistently and presumably intentionally.

That aside, the Ibrida powertrain is peppy, fun and has no issues milling around town or getting up to freeway speeds. A claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 8.9 seconds doesn't sound quick, but there's still a decent push when you lay into the throttle.

Heading full-throttle up a short, uphill freeway on-ramp proved this, since we easily saw 110km/h before it was time to merge. There are Alfa's 'DNA' drive modes too (Dynamic, Natural, and 'Advanced Efficiency'), which have real impacts on how potent the drivetrain is.

In terms of dynamics, the Junior feels way more planted than you might expect, and while we had to overcome some of those light SUV preconceptions we mentioned earlier before throwing it into a turn at will, the degree to which it stuck caught us off guard.

There isn't really another light SUV that steers the way the Junior does. As with its price, you have to step up to the small SUV class before you find something comparable when it comes to handling.

Composure and confidence are words that come to mind. You don't have to be in any specific drive mode to harness this pointy handling either; the standard suspension and steering setup is geared towards agility out of the box.

The Junior's steering is direct and responsive, though dialling up to the more aggressive Dynamic drive mode will make it a little firmer. The small steering wheel contributes to the go-kart vibe, making the Junior an unexpectedly enjoyable car to drive.

As clichéd as it may sound, the term 'soul' fits the Junior well. It's something missing from most new cars these days, so we appreciate the way Alfa has been able to present a unique little SUV with real on-road character. At the risk of using marketing-speak, the Junior is joyful to drive.

None of that Italian sportiness compromises the ride quality either. It's a little taut and certainly on the firmer side, but by no means uncomfortable – you could very easily live with the Ibrida on a daily basis, and its well-sorted springs and dampers contribute to the well-engineered aura the car gives off in general.

Even sudden bumps don't upset the car too much, and you'll find it can tackle most inner-city road imperfections with the same confidence it shows over bigger hits and undulations at freeway speeds.

Alfa has also managed to nicely tune a competent suite of safety gear. Systems like adaptive cruise control worked reliably both on rural highways and inter-city freeways, while the surround-view camera and its compact proportions make it an easy vehicle to park.

Our only gripe is with the speed limit warning system, which beeps at you when the car exceeds the speed limit by any amount. It isn't an overly loud or obnoxious noise, but it will bug you every time the speed limit changes. Thankfully, it can be toggled off.

As a whole, the Junior is very complete and accomplished package. We haven't driven the Elettrica, but the Ibrida provides most of what a small SUV buyer could want, while also adding a sizeable dose of the iconic flair for which Alfa is known.

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Only one trim level is available for the Junior at launch.

2026 Alfa Romeo Junior equipment highlights:

Accessory highlights:

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

The Alfa Romeo Junior is yet to be assessed by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

The Alfa Romeo Junior is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. Service intervals are 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Though no capped-price servicing is outlined for the Junior, Alfa Romeo's online service calculator offers cost estimates for 12 years of servicing. Accurate as of October 9, 2025, the Junior's first five services are detailed below:

For further context, the sixth and eighth services are both priced at over $1100. The Junior Elettrica, meanwhile, costs an average of $232.32 to service, totalling $1161.61 over five years.

To see how the Alfa Romeo Junior stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

We went into the Junior launch expecting a car that drives like most other light SUVs, fitted with a slightly more upmarket interior. Suffice to say, our expectations were far exceeded.

This is what we mean when we say expectation is the Junior's enemy. It's all too easy to take its compact SUV positioning at face value and dismiss it as too expensive alongside mainstream rivals, and doomed to sell in smaller numbers than similarly sized vehicles.

But the driving experience makes it all make sense. Alfa Romeo really has captured some of its charm and bestowed it upon an otherwise unremarkable Stellantis platform.

Commendable ride and handling allows the Junior to be compared with pricier rivals from Lexus and Audi, and offers something meaningfully different to the Jeep and Peugeot models with which it shares DNA.

Of course, the Alfa's relatively steep price tag will hold it back, and so could its beepy speed limit information system, which will get on your nerves after a while.

The Junior's cabin layout is also somewhat unintuitive. We found ourselves lost when trying to navigate back to the infotainment system's home screen on more occasions than we'd like to admit. And it would be great if the instrument display fitted the cluster housing a bit better too.

But as a package, the Junior offers a fun drive and an attractive interior that makes it feel like your money has gone somewhere worthwhile. Whether the same is true for the Elettrica remains to be seen, but the Ibrida is more than worthy of attracting a few well-heeled, red-blooded light SUV buyers.

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Content originally sourced from: CarExpert.com.au