Lancia in risk???

[Mekola]

Just read that FCA is considering deactivate Lancia brand.
And that there is a campaign to "Save Lancia".
Am very worried about it.

IMHO, with the knowledge what this marque did to motorsport, I suggest Klaas Zwart, who is the owner of ASCARI, to bid for Lancia, too. Mostly knowing the Lancia-Ascari (the driver) links.
Martini brand also could bid for it.

[GregUK]

In the UK the Lancia brand ceased to exist after 1995.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by GregUK

In the UK the Lancia brand ceased to exist after 1995.

Yep - the dealerships all rusted and fell apart

[ChrisMarks]

I never really understood why FCA insisted that both Alfa Romeo and Lancia should be premium brands.... if they were smart, they would do what Renault did with Dacia.... It would work really well for keeping Lancia alive i think.

[Dave Brand]

As Lancia's model range now comprises one model, the Ypsilon, which is only sold in Italy, there's not much left to save, is there?


Putting it out of its misery is probably the most humane course of action.

[andrewc]

Lancia pulled out of the UK market in 1994 to concentrate on Europe.

There was an idea to bring Lancia back to the UK, but they decided against relaunching the Lancia brand in the UK, so brought the Lancia Delta and Ypsilon to the UK badged as Chrylsers. Some of the bigger Chryslers were sold in Europe as Lancias.

In the 1970's and 1980's Fiats range was simple. They had Fiat, Autobianchi and Lancia. Autobianchi was phased out, Fiat did the cheap family cars and Lancia did the sporting cars and luxurious. Fiat had a stake in both Maserati and Ferrari, but didn't control either.

Then they acquired total control of Alfa Romeo in the mid 1980's and that confused the position of Alfa and Lancia. Both had strong sporting heritages and both could do Luxurious, but Fiat decided to invest more in Alfa Romeo and to relaunch that as a credible brand alternative to BMW etc., (jury's still out on that).

So at the moment, Fiat don't know what to do with Lancia, they only produce one model and only sell it in Italy.

What to do - sell the brand? Geely? Jaguar Land Rover? VW?
Close it?
Use it for something else?

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by andrewc

What to do - sell the brand? Geely? Jaguar Land Rover? VW?
Close it?
Use it for something else?

Keep the brand - use it for lightweight sportscars (like Renault have Alpine). The Alfa 4C should have been a Lancia for example.

[VIVA GT]

I too would like the brand keeping for sentimental reasons, here in Britain we've lost a lot of our 'old' manufacturers' names. The problem is what typer of car to use the Lancia name for?
Sports cars /sports saloons are really covered by Alfa Romeo and I don't think that 'quality' Lancia would be a good fit for a down market Dacia type of move, plus let's face it, could you move much further downmarket / low quality than Fiat anyway?

[andrewc]

I work in the Lancia world, so have an interest.

I had two answers:

1) to create a boutique brand, with free reign to produce small volume production cars and access to Fiat Groups parts bins. Sometimes they'd be cheap cars with lower end engines, occasionally more expensive cars.

2) to use as a brand to promotes Fiat's electrification - an Italian Tesla

As for the Alfa 4C being a Lancia - that doesn't necessarily fit with Lancias 110 year history, but its a bit like a Stratos I suppose.


The Lancia brand in its heyday was the premier Italian marque, but also has the sporting reputation equal to any other manufacture - still the most successful rally car manufacturer, wins and championships in endurance racing, Formula 1.....

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by andrewc

use as a brand to promotes Fiat's electrification - an Italian Tesla

That idea is brilliant!

An electric Lancia sedan or SUV makes totally sense, unlike Alfa Romeo or Maserati.

[andrewc]

Lancia had a lot of 'firsts' in its road car history - unitary construction, independent front suspension, production V6 engine, pioneer of narrow angle V engines (almost 70 years before VW thought of it), first car with a 5 speed gearbox amongst others - as well as an enviable reputation in motorsport.

They also had a range of equally clever commercial vehicles.

So, an innovative electric car / sedan / commercial vehicle would make sense and would link in with Lancia's history.