Lancia will survive inside Stellantis and will be configured as a premium brand. It’s this one the first big news that emerged after the press conference to present the new group by CEO Carlos Tavares, with the future of the Turin car manufacturer that seems to have emerged in the light of the new organizational structure it sees Lancia like DS and Alfa Romeo. The new positioning of the brand is significant, with Stellantis which therefore seems willing to exploit the potential of the brand in a different way than in the past, with an important work in the future that has been entrusted to the skilled hands of Luca Napolitano.
The now former Head of Emea of Fiat, Abarth and Lancia will take control of the Turin brand, exploiting all the experience accumulated with the brand in its more than twenty years within the Fiat Group and then FCA. The choice of Napolitano as CEO of Lancia represents a certainty and a fundamental starting point for ensuring continuity and immediately orienting development in the direction desired by Tavares and Stellantis. The basis on which the project will rest will be the Lancia Ypsilon, a stainless car that in recent years has represented the glimmer of hope for the brand, dragging the sales of a reduced range and still managing to get second place among the best-selling cars in Italy in 2020. Ypsilon will therefore continue to represent a chic car with attention to detail, reflecting the premium values desired by the new group and embodied by a highly successful model.
The electrification started by FCA with the hybrid version of Lancia Ypsilon it will be only the first step and with the advent of shared platforms, in particular the EMP and the EVMP, we can expect important innovations, starting with a fully electric model and perhaps with a compact car with high wheels, perhaps a small SUV or a crossover. The hope is obviously that it will also return to having sports models and in this regard the Stratos appearing behind Tavares during the press conference on January 16th could be a clue regarding the desire to make the most of the tradition of all the brands. Also in this case, shared platforms could play an important role, perhaps through Giorgio as Alfa Romeo will occupy the same position in the Stellantis portfolio. The last challenge will be to expand the Lancia network even beyond the Italian borders: workshops, showrooms and assistance will have to grow to accompany the international scope of the new group, perhaps initially relying on the larger brands.
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