(Bloomberg) -- Stellantis NV is changing the name of a sport utility vehicle made by one of its sports-car brands after the Alfa Romeo ‘Milano’ irked the Italian government because the car is manufactured in Poland. 

The vehicle will now be called Alfa Romeo ‘Junior,’ Stellantis said Monday. Last week, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso lambasted Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares over the misleading name, adding to a string of clashes between the carmaker and the government. 

“We worked over the weekend to change the name,” Tavares told reporters  during a visit to a plant in Tremery, northern France. “It’s a signal of appeasement — we have a big library of names.”

Italy’s government is at loggerheads with Stellantis following plans to cut jobs in the country and move production to lower-cost sites. Last week, thousands of Italians joined striking workers near the carmaker’s base in the northern city of Turin in anticipation of a new round of redundancies. 

“We think the Milano name fully complies with the law, but we decided to change that name to promote a climate of detente,” Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said on a call with reporters.   

Read More: Stellantis Faces Labor Tensions in Italy as Protests Grow

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.