Alfa Romeo Junior hybrid and EV 2026 finally arrives to take on the Mini Aceman and Lexus LBX 

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Alfa Romeo has planned an unexpected shake up of the compact SUV market in Australia with the re-introduction of its iconic Junior nameplate, now reimagined as a mild-hybrid and dedicated electric.

Prices start from $45,900 for the hybrid, known as the Ibrida, and $57,900 for the Elettrica EV, both before on-road costs. 

The Elettrica will be Alfa’s first foray into electric vehicles, with both models of Junior heavily sharing components from the Stellantis e-CMP2 platform.

The Junior is a properly small vehicle — less than 4.2m long, under 1.8m wide and just 1.5 metres tall. Wheels are pushed to all four corners and, as a bonus, both cars are light weight at 1280kg (Ibrida) and 1545kg (Elettrica).

Regardless of powertrain, standard equipment on the Junior includes:

• 18-inch alloy wheels
• Matrix LED headlights
• LED taillights
• Two-tone roof
• Leather steering wheel
• Adaptive cruise control
• Tyre pressure monitoring 
• Rain sensing wipers
• Twin 10.25-Inch touchscreen and driver screens
• Wireless CarPlay and Android Auto
• 6 speaker stereo
• Wireless phone charging
• Electronically adjustable heated front seats

The Ibrida’s 48-volt mild hybrid system features a 100kW 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol three cylinder and 21kW electric motor integrated into a six-speed dual clutch transmission. Combined outputs 107kW/230Nm, with grunt sent exclusively to the front wheels.

Rated fuel economy is an impressive 4.1L/100km (NEDC). 

Unlike other plugless hybrids like the Nissan Qashqai or Toyota Camry, which both support brief EV only driving, the Ibrida is limited to features like slow-speed creeping in traffic, rolling stop-start, and EV propulsion for parking maneuvers. 

The Junior Ibrida finds few rivals in its premium MHEV segment, primarily butting heads with the $47,550 Lexus LBX or cheaper, more value focused $31,790 Toyota Yaris Cross, which leads the compact-hybrid segment. 

Direct combustion-only rivals include the $49,400 Audi Q2 and $41,990 Volkswagen T-Roc. All prices are before on-road costs.

The Junior Elettrica is more powerful than its hybrid counterpart, producing 115kW/260Nm. It features a 54kWh battery and front axle-mounted electric motor – a system capable of delivering 407km of WLTP range.

Peak AC charging is rated at 11kW, and DC peak is 100kW. Plugged into a rapid DC charger, the Junior Elettrica can accomplish a 10-80 percent recharge in 30 minutes. 

In the compact EV segment, the Elettrica is bombarded with competition. Value-focused rivals include the MG4, Kia EV3, and BYD Dolphin. 

More style-focused rivals with higher price tags include the $55,990 Mini Aceman, $59,990 Volvo EX30, and smaller $39,000 Hyundai Inster. 

Last year, Alfa Romeo made up 0.05 percent of the total Australian Car market, contributing 561 sales out of 1.2 million. 

The iconic Stellantis-owned Italian brand hopes the Junior will “win over a new generation” when it arrives later this month.