2026 Alfa Romeo Junior Ibrida review

It may be known for high-end sports cars, but Alfa Romeo has historically found its greatest success in Australia with smaller, cheaper vehicles.

The new Junior city SUV returns the Italian brand to the compact end of the new-car market – last occupied by the MiTo city hatch – and lowers the price of entry close to the now-defunct Giulietta small hatch.

First to arrive is a mild-hybrid variant promising super-frugal consumption, alongside a more expensive electric variant expected to account for a smaller share of sales.

Can the Junior’s distinctive design, compact footprint and hybrid fuel efficiency help Alfa Romeo revive its ailing fortunes in Australia?

The Junior is available in two model grades: the Ibrida (Italian for hybrid) priced from $46,990 plus on-road costs, and the Elettrica (you guessed it, the electric one) priced from $58,990 plus on-roads – both up $1090 on their launch prices first announced at the start of 2025.

On test in this review is the hybrid, specified with two-tone Galleria Light Grey premium paint and a sunroof – the latter the only optional extra – for a price of $50,970 plus on-roads, or an estimated $57,500 drive-away in NSW.

Few of Alfa Romeo’s prestige-brand rivals offer an SUV this small, but that’s not to say it has no rivals.

The Lexus LBX hybrid is its closest rival in Australia, at $47,550 plus on-road costs for the front-wheel-drive Luxury grade, as well as the petrol Audi Q2 from $49,400 plus on-roads.

The Mini Aceman and Volvo EX30 are closer matches for the electric Junior, at $60,990 and $59,990 plus on-road costs, respectively.

The Junior is the twin under the skin to the Jeep Avenger, both of which use components developed by French brand Peugeot – the underpinnings, engines, software, and many switches and systems – as all three marques are part of the same global Stellantis car-making giant.

Standard features include 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, a 10.25-inch instrument display, cloth and leather-look upholstery, a six-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, single-zone climate control, wireless phone charging, a six-speaker stereo, and a power tailgate.

The Junior is not a big car, and it feels it inside, for better and worse.

Drivers sit low up front, the car wrapped around them for a sporty driving position behind the wheel. There’s enough tilt and reach adjustment in the steering column for tall people to get comfortable, plus ample head room and space in the footwell.

The cloth and ‘leatherette’ upholstery is sufficiently soft, and the front seats are reasonably supportive, but they lack adjustment, with no control of under-thigh bolstering or lumbar. The latter was a particular gripe, as I struggled to get comfortable with so much lumbar dialled in by default, though others on the Drive team weren’t as bothered.

Alfa Romeo has worked to differentiate the Junior’s cabin from the closely related Jeep Avenger SUV, with details such as circular air vents bearing Alfa snake logos, a unique dashboard, and a new centre console with a prominent engine start button.

The infotainment touchscreen sits low, which is great for the design, but requires your eyes to move far off the road to use while driving. Alfa Romeo has kept shortcut buttons for the home screen and vehicle settings, but they’re above the screen, not below it, which takes some getting used to.

However, there are few soft-touch materials to make the car feel worth $50,000 – the doors are hard plastic, in particular, and the armrests aren’t very soft – and the Jeep’s cavernous centre-console storage has been sacrificed for the Alfa’s sporty design.

There is a lot of Peugeot switchgear too. The steering wheel is small, as is typical of an Alfa, but the not-always-intuitive buttons are straight out of a Peugeot, as are the climate controls, dual screens, and most other vehicle controls.

The gear shifter is a compact toggle-switch design that’s reasonably easy to use – again, out of a Peugeot – while the Junior offers Alfa’s ‘DNA’ drive modes, but rather than an attractive dial as in a Giulia, they are accessed through an anonymous Peugeot-sourced rocker switch.

Storage space is average, but not exceptional. There’s ample space under the front-centre armrest, an open area in the centre console that fits dividers which serve as a cupholder, a rubberised wireless charging tray with room around your phone for keys, a glovebox, and modest door pockets for smaller items.

Amenities include six-way electric driver and manual passenger seats, heated front seats, single-zone climate control, keyless entry and start, eight-colour ambient lighting, one USB-A and one USB-C port, and, as an option, an electric sunroof with a manual shade.

Naturally, it’s not the roomiest car in the rear. Six-foot (183cm) adults sitting behind similarly sized drivers will find their knees touching the front seats, and hair brushing the roof, not helped by black headlining and a central floor tunnel to straddle, which don’t make it feel spacious.

It is sparse too – no fold-down centre armrest, no rear air vents, and no door pockets – but there is, a least, a single USB-C port, and outboard ISOFIX plus three top-tether points for child seats, should you be able to fit them behind the front seats.

Boot space is surprisingly generous for a city SUV, its 415-litre rating dwarfing some SUVs in the class above. This is enough for a few small suitcases before you need to stack them higher. Boot amenities include a two-position floor, a 12-volt socket, light, and a power tailgate with kick sensor, though there’s no spare wheel, just a puncture repair kit.

Standard in every Alfa Romeo Junior is a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen, offering wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, and embedded satellite navigation.

There is also support for an Alfa Connected Services phone app, with vehicle tracking, remote control of locks and lights, and more.

The software is different to all other Alfas, as it is – again – sourced from sister brand Peugeot. The icons are large enough to tap easily while driving, and it is easy enough to use, but it is not the last word in user-friendliness or responsiveness to inputs.

Wireless Apple CarPlay remained connected without fault throughout our test, though the wireless phone charging pad worked intermittently with my Apple iPhone 17 Pro in a case.

Alfa Romeo has retained a row of physical controls for the air conditioning, but the heated seats are multiple taps away in the screen, made slightly easier by a physical button to open the climate-control menu.

Unless you’re in that menu, it’s also hard to see the current temperature and fan speed as you’re adjusting them. There are small readouts at the top-left corner of the touchscreen, but the fan speed readout in particular – a fan icon that fills in as you ramp up the blower – is hard to see while driving.

The 10.25-inch instrument display pins speedometer and tachometer dials to its outer edges, but there’s mild customisation of the centre section, between fuel economy, a map, and audio selection.

A six-speaker sound system is standard fitment, which delivers decent audio quality for an unbranded stereo, but it’s nothing to write home about.

The Junior is yet to be crash-tested by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.

However, the three-star performance of its closely related sibling, the Jeep Avenger, is not a good sign, should it be an indicator of how the Alfa Romeo would perform in similar testing.

The Junior ticks most advanced-safety boxes expected of a new car in 2025, and does a good job of assisting rather than annoying the driver with too many beeps and chimes.

The lane-keep assist system isn’t too intrusive for our tastes, and the lane-centring assist technology for highway driving also works well, though it can run a little close to the outer white line in corners.

As with many new cars, the traffic sign recognition system will beep when the vehicle exceeds the speed limit it has detected, even if it has misread the sign and you’re not speeding – a common occurrence.

Fortunately, it’s well calibrated in the way it operates, only starting to beep audibly when the vehicle has exceeded the limit it has seen by 3–4km/h, and only after a few seconds.

It’s exceptionally easy to turn off too: press the vehicle settings button above the screen, tap to turn off the ‘Excessive Speed Warning’ – as well as lane-keep assist, if you wish – and click the vehicle button again to return to the app you were last using.

Not everything is rosy. There is no rear cross-traffic alert system for warning of oncoming cars when reversing out of driveways or parking spots – just a blind-spot monitor for use when you’re in your lane, as well as front, side and rear parking sensors.

A top-down angle in the reversing camera also attempts to simulate a 360-degree view, by ‘filling in’ the car’s surroundings as you reverse, but it would be more useful to know where obstacles beside the vehicle are before you hit them, not afterwards.

We also noticed an annoying delay in the rear-view camera switching on once reverse gear is activated, which isn’t ideal in busy car parks with traffic bearing down on you.

The Alfa Romeo Junior is covered by a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, with service intervals spaced every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

Five years of scheduled maintenance is quoted at $3105.84, compared to $2975 for a Lexus LBX hybrid, and $2600 for an Audi Q2 when paid in advance.

A year of comprehensive insurance coverage with a leading provider is quoted at $1876, based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Mild-hybrid technology, a small engine, and a compact footprint allow the Junior to be easy on fuel.

Alfa Romeo claims consumption of 4.1 litres per 100 kilometres in mixed driving, across 3.4L/100km in urban areas, or 4.5L/100km on the open road, all based on lab testing.

Over a mix of driving conditions, the trip computer in our test vehicle returned an indicated 6.4L/100km.

That’s a lot higher than the claim, but we regularly observed fuel use in the high fours to low fives – in 60km/h to 80km/h suburban driving on flat ground, where the car can switch off the engine and use the electric motor to maintain speed.

Highway consumption was observed in the 5.0 to 6.0L/100km range, while more enthusiastic country driving to test the handling pushed the average up.

Still, a real-world figure in the sixes, without trying to hypermile the car, isn’t too bad for a city-sized SUV, though it is not as frugal as a Lexus LBX.

As with most European cars sold in Australia, the Junior requires a minimum of 95-octane premium unleaded petrol – so no 91-octane or E10 is supported – for its 44-litre fuel tank.

Alfa Romeo has built its reputation on sporty cars that handle well and put a smile on your face. The Junior delivers on the promise, for the most part.

With a tiny 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine aided by a small electric motor, the Ibrida is never going to be a powerhouse, but there is enough performance for the size of the car, especially at low RPM, and it doesn’t feel slow, completing 0–100km/h in 9.3 seconds in our testing.

The Junior is technically considered to be a mild-hybrid, with a small 21kW electric motor and a 48-volt battery pack that mainly assists the engine under acceleration, or switching it off either when coasting, or while decelerating to a stop to save fuel.

Unlike most mild-hybrids, however, the electric motor can drive the wheels without the engine on; a character of ‘full’ hybrids like Lexus and Toyota vehicles.

The electric motor can’t supply a lot of grunt, and the engine is quick to restart at the sight of the slightest incline, but there is enough electric power to drive in silence in slow-moving traffic, or overcome tyre and wind resistance to maintain the vehicle’s speed on flat ground at 60km/h.

It also helps minimise turbo lag from the engine under acceleration.

An indicator within the instrument display tells you what percentage of the current drive has been covered in electric mode. We saw numbers ranging from 10 to 45 per cent depending on the conditions.

Less impressive is the six-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. It shifts effectively in sedate driving once you’ve built some speed, but it stumbles at low speeds, with some hesitation off the mark, some mechanical-sounding slurring noises, and occasional clunks between gears.

Under braking that’s exacerbated by the electric motor switching the engine on and off as the vehicle sees fit, as the gearbox can lurch more than we’d like as it downshifts, on top of the motor’s regenerative braking helping to slow the car as it recuperates energy.

It’s not the worst gearbox on the market – and, at speed, the way it flicks between electric and petrol power is surprisingly smooth – but it is a rougher and clunkier experience than we’d like.

A focus on sporty handling means firmer suspension than some of its class rivals. Occupants feel the surface of the road below, and it can feel a touch brittle over potholes and sharp bumps, but it is not too harsh or stiff to live with. Alfa has struck a suitable compromise.

Around town, a turning circle, quick steering – as is the Alfa norm – and good visibility make for an easy car to steer on tight streets, while on the freeway there is moderate tyre roar to drown out with the speakers.

It’s surprisingly enjoyable on a winding road too. The steering is direct and linear as it is quick – though it does not have much road feel – and the Junior feels agile and keen to turn into bends, resisting body roll well.

It’s no sports car – the small engine quickly runs out of puff when pushed, the Goodyear tyres deliver acceptable but not outstanding grip, and the car’s electronics are a little too eager in sapping power and biting at the brakes to prevent the driver having too much fun.

The first few centimetres of the brake pedal feel like grinding sandpaper, but after that, it’s a light and approachable action that is never grabby or over-sensitive in traffic, if lacking some bite under a hard stop.

Emergency braking performance is decent, pulling up from 100km/h in 37.6 metres on our timing equipment. That’s comparable to other small SUVs, but not outstanding given the modest weight and size of the car.

The Junior is unlikely to be a popular choice among towing-minded customers, but should the need arise, it can pull up to 500kg either braked or unbraked.

Alfa Romeo lists a payload – the maximum mass of passengers, cargo, and accessories the vehicle is rated to carry – of 510kg, which is enough for a tank of fuel, five adult passengers of average mass, and some luggage in the boot.

The Alfa Romeo Junior is a likeable small SUV that will appeal to buyers who prioritise style and character over space and value for money.

It wears a distinctive design, it’s smartly styled and laid out inside, it’s fuel-efficient, offers plenty of features, and handles well for a city SUV.

However, there are a number of small weaknesses that add up to make it hard to recommend as a rational purchase.

It’s not very roomy inside, nor does it feel very high-end. The front seats lack adjustment, the technology is acceptable but not fantastic, it’s not all that smooth at low speeds, it’s expensive to service, and while it’s Alfa Romeo’s cheapest model, it’s not that cheap.

Remove the badges – as well as the front grille – and we think more can be done to make the Junior feel like an Alfa, especially in a crowded market where the Italian brand is fighting to get on the consideration lists of more customers.

But if you love the look, the space and the price, you will enjoy the Alfa Romeo Junior.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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