Lancia restricted to just one Italian model

This is disheartening news for Lancia fans that Sergio Marchionne is planning to shut it down. The brand has been experiencing a steady decline over the years and as quoted to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica by Fiat the brand will be restricted to just one model and that would also be available only in Italy.

Photo 1: LANCIA

If this proposed plan is to be activated it would be another step towards closing down of the famous marquee of its time. Lancia brand of cars gave great pleasures to drivers and were timeless treasures which included Flavia, Strators, Fulvia and the rally car Delta. The Lancia stood shoulder to shoulder with world famous Italian brands like Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo. The brand which took birth under the aegis of Fiat in 1969 started struggling to establish itself. Presently the brand is selling a series of Chrysler rebadged models, Delta Hatchback and Ypsilon supermini in place of its own brand in Europe and still no presence in the UK is found for its cars.

The latest Delta floating in the market since 2008 has been steadily going down in sales and is expecting the axe. That leaves the Lancia’s exclusive model, the Ypsilon for the market.  With Chrysler and Fiat merging into one group now the possibility of Chrysler taking another shot at the European market looms large. Now it is for us to see how far the Lancia brand would last in Italy, but one can easily see the writing on the wall. It is easy to envisage the Ypsilon living out its remaining lifecycle and registered as the last Lancia to roam the roads.

Photo 2: Lancia restricted to just one Italian model

Fiat has planned to invest an amount of $12 million on the upcoming models and stop the losses occurring in the European market within a period of 3 years. It is quite natural that an auto giant like Fiat would certainly have plans to exit the difficulties it is experiencing in the European market and that plan would surely include developing new vehicles to keep the faithful customer base intact.