Alfa Romeo owes its survival to its new Junior small SUV

After several years of uncertainty, willAlfa Romeo can finally breathe? The Italian brand is enjoying a veritable renaissance in 2025, and owes it almost entirely to a single model: the Junior, its small SUV produced in Poland. Without it, the curve would undoubtedly have continued to plummet.

Between January and September 2025, Alfa Romeo totalled 49,255 registrations in the main markets monitored by Italpassion, an increase of 28 % compared with the same period in 2024. A figure that would have been impossible without the Junior effect.

Italy: Junior confirms, Tonale continues to resist

In Italy, Alfa Romeo's historic stronghold, the Junior continues to carry the brand at arm's length. In the first nine months of the year, 11,157 units were registered, making it the 26th best-selling model in the country. It accounts for 50 % of the brand's registrations. It even overtook the Tonale in September, with 1,065 units compared with 1,298 for the compact SUV, now ranked 29th.

The Giulia and Stelvio are now outside the top 50. Alfa Romeo has never been so dependent on a single model.

Germany: Junior finally boosts the market

Germany, the brand's new second-largest market worldwide, recorded 5,773 registrations, up 19 % year-on-year. And the month of September perfectly illustrates the Junior effect: 328 units registered, ahead of the Stelvio (114), Tonale (63) and Giulia (46). So the Junior seems to be attracting German customers too.

United States: the market recedes

On the other side of the Atlantic, the situation remains critical. The United States, until recently Alfa Romeo's second-largest market, overtaken last month by Germany, is now being followed by France.

With 4,778 registrations over nine months, the brand is still down by almost 30 %. And unlike in Europe, it's the Tonale that leads the way: 2,109 units, followed by the Stelvio (1,501) and the Giulia (1,168). Without the Junior, still absent from the American catalog, Alfa Romeo currently has no locomotive.

France: soon the world's third-largest market

France confirms its upward trend, with 4,705 registrations since January (+54 1TP3Q).
And the momentum is only accelerating: with 384 Juniors registered in September, the SUV accounts for over 80 % of the month's sales. The Tonale (88 units), the Giulia (12) and the Stelvio (6) are just making up the numbers.
At the current rate, France will overtake the United States by the end of October to become Alfa Romeo's third-largest market worldwide. Not since the launch of the Giulia and Stelvio almost 10 years ago.

Spain: encouraging signs at last

Spain, long lagging behind, is finally showing a sign of recovery. In September, 242 Juniors were registered, more than ten times the volume of the Tonale (12) or the Giulia (8). With 2,391 cumulative registrations since January (+10 1TP3Q), the country is regaining a certain dynamism, driven once again by the small Polish SUV.

United Kingdom and Japan: two new departures

In the UK, sales of the Junior have only just begun, but the success is immediate: 649 registrations in September, an all-time record for the brand in years. The country thus becomes the second largest European market of the month, behind Italy.

The same is true in Japan, where the first deliveries of the Junior, launched at the end of June, have boosted the figures: 291 registrations in September, the best month for Alfa Romeo in a very long time.

Poland: national pride

Poland, Junior's production country, logically enters the ranking with 1,657 registrations since January. The pace is steady here, and while volumes remain modest, they confirm that local manufacturing also supports a national customer base.

Turkey, Austria, Switzerland and Belgium: good signals

Turkey grew strongly (+93 %), proving that Junior and Tonale are finding their audience.
Austria is not to be outdone with +44 %, while Switzerland records its best month since 2023 with 117 registrations. As for Belgium, a newcomer to the ranking, it posted an increase of 38 %, as many as Japan or Turkey.

Alfa Romeo, now a European brand

All in all, if we count the countries not included in our ranking, Alfa Romeo has probably passed the symbolic 50,000 mark in European registrations since January. And in the main markets, the Junior already accounts for more than one in every two Alfa Romeos sold, confirming its place as the brand's saviour. At this rate, we can estimate that Alfa Romeo will register around 70,000 cars this year, 2025, which would be the same as in 2023.

While the USA faded away, Europe - and Italy, Germany and France in particular - ensured the Biscione's survival. With the Junior, Alfa Romeo has found its lifeline. It remains to be seen how long it will float without a new model to support it. Let's hope that the restyled Tonale will revitalize sales and that 2026 can count on a dynamic duo.

📊 Top Alfa Romeo markets (January-September 2025)

Country	january - september 2025	Evolution
Italy	22407	35%
Germany	5773	19%
United States	4778	-30%
France	4705	54%
Spain	2391	10%
United Kingdom	2215	77%
Poland	1657	New
Belgium	1204	38%
Turkey	1146	94%
Japan	1076	40%
Austria	1164	44%
Switzerland	739	18%