Chrysler & Lancia tie up!

[peterbaker]

The 'American' Delta will sell well in the States, it meets all the criterea re 2015 emissions but at the same time offers enough room for the average family, perhaps serving as an attractive second car. Performance is above average while the European, slightly off the wall design, makes a good talking point. Maybe Fiat will even provide a performance 'kit' that will include Lancia grille and badging. There is of course a major problem, dealer support.

[toby2449]

i've read some of the reactions to the Chrysler Delta, mainly american reactions, & they have been 99% positive, which to be honest amazes me!! I was rather cynical about the whole badge engineering thing but maybe Chrysler should give it a go. Lancia will never be sold again in the States, Marchoinne has made that very clear, so if the car can help Chrysler, then it helps FGA!

[donw]

Just received from Peter Makeham an Australiam member.

Exclusive: Lancias for Oz as Chryslers


Delta force: Chrysler unveiled a rebadged version of the Lancia Delta at the Detroit motor show.

Fiat boss confirms that rebadged Lancias will sell as Chryslers in Australia

19 January 2010

By JAMES STANFORD

LANCIA cars are set to return to Australia as Chryslers.

Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has confirmed to GoAuto that a global plan to introduce Fiat group products branded as Chryslers in markets where Lancia is not selling cars would extend to the Asia Pacific and Australia.

Asked if we would see Lancia cars as Chryslers in Australia, Mr Marchionne said: “As Chryslers? Yes, you will. Fear not, you will. To the extent that Lancia is not active, not present in any given jurisdiction, Chrysler will be with a combined offering of Lancia and Chrysler.”

Lancia is a premium division which offers re-mixed Fiat models with adventurous styling and luxury features.

Models such as the Lancia Beta and Flavia were sold in Australia until the early 1990s before fading out of the market.

No Lancias are currently produced in right-hand drive, but Fiat is reportedly keen to get into markets such as the United Kingdom, which would help justify doing the engineering work for Australia.

Mr Marchionne has signalled his intention to merge Lancia and Chrysler model lines around the world.

In markets where Lancia is already present, key Chrysler models will be rebadged as Lancias. For every other market, the small premium Lancias will be rebadged and used to fill out the Chrysler range.

“The benefit of this alliance is that both Lancia and Chrysler will become full liners,” Mr Marchionne said.

“In the case of Chrysler they had nothing below the Sebring and in the case of the Lancia they had nothing above the Delta, so it is a good marriage.”

Asked if this was a cheaper option than introducing Lancia as a stand-alone brand, Mr Marchionne said such a move would have been impossible.

“I don’t have enough money or resources to get that done, to be honest,” he said.

From top: Lancia Ypsilon, Lancia Phedra, Fiat-Chrylser CEO Sergio Marchionne.

Chrysler did not hold a formal media presentation at the Detroit motor show, but did present a Lancia Delta wearing a fresh grille with a Chrysler badge.

The Chrysler stand was also shared with other Fiat brands, including Maserati and Ferrari.

No information was available about the vehicle and the staff at the stand said they had not been given any details about it, not even a name.

The Delta was there to demonstrate that Fiat would move quickly to leverage Lancia products.

“The rebadge that you saw downstairs, (or) which people called a rebadge, is fundamentally an indication of which way the future will develop,” Mr Marchionne told GoAuto.

The Delta is a small five-door hatchback based on the same platform as the Fiat Bravo (sold here as the Ritmo) and, like all Lancias, is marketed as a premium product.

Available engines include two versions of a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine and three common-rail diesels including 1.6-litre, 1.9-litre and 2.0-litre displacements.

Another likely addition to the Chrysler range in Australia is the Ypsilon three-door hatch, based on the Fiat 500 platform – a size smaller than the Delta. It is available with two versions of the 1.3-litre common-rail diesel as well as two petrol units, a 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre.

Lancia also sells the Musa mini people-mover and the Phedra full-size people-mover.

Ateco Automotive currently holds the rights to distribute Lancia in Australia, but this would not cover Lancia products built and sold as Chryslers.

Ateco, which Mr Marchionne describes as a “great friend of the house”, distributes Fiat group brands, including Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Fiat and Ferrari.

Chrysler Group Australia, which is about to move in with Fiat-owned truck brand Iveco in Dandenong, Victoria, handles Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

Asked if there were any plans to alter the distribution of Fiat and Chrysler vehicles in Australia, Mr Marchionne indicated a more streamlined approach would be beneficial, but was not decided what form it could take.

“We need to converge the way in which we are distributing cars in Australia, simply because of the fact that the car side needs to somehow be optimised,” he said.

“I don’t have an answer to that question yet. I know that Chrysler can continue to function and distribute as it does now.”

Mr Marchionne’s strategy for the restructured Chrysler includes not only products but also technology sharing with the Fiat group.

Chrysler announced earlier this month that it would revamp its powertrain line-up with a range of four-cylinder engines from Fiat.

It said it would introduce the 1.4-litre Fire four-cylinder with MultiAir variable valve actuation, producing 75kW in naturally aspirated form and 128kW as a turbo. The first US application of the engine would be in the Fiat 500, which arrives there late this year.

A 2.4-litre 142kW four-cylinder Fiat engine with MultiAir is also on the Chrysler menu for its medium-sized vehicles, along with a turbocharged version.

Chrysler will introduce the new Pentastar V6 it has already developed to replace six Chrysler engines. This engine will also be adopted by the Fiat group and is likely to replace the Alfa GT, Brera and Spider’s 3.2-litre V6, which until recently was produced by Holden in Port Melbourne.

Mr Marchionne said using the 209kW 3.6-litre Pentastar V6 made sense.

“This engine is replacing a very confused array of V6 engines that this group has had,” he said.

“We need to clean up that confusion because industrially it makes no sense and they were not current, technically.”

Perhaps they will do the same in UK!!!

Don

[neil-yaj396]

What a shame it would be for Fiat to market Lancias in the UK as Chryslers just as the Lancia name is becoming credible again, while Chrysler cars are regarded as rubbish here!

[johnturner]

What Don neglected to mention is that Peter is arranging a mass jump off from the West Gate Bridge for those in Melbourne.  That looks about the right response to me.

[Dilambdaman]

Will it be possible (and legal) to re-badge a Chrysler as a Lancia should right hand drive models become available in the UK?

Robin

[fay66]

Will it be possible (and legal) to re-badge a Chrysler as a Lancia should right hand drive models become available in the UK?

Robin

Hi robin,
I would have thought as long as you don't try to register it as a Lancia you would be able to change what you like,

Brian
8227

[fensaddler]

It would be sheer lunacy to brand them as Chryslers in the UK.  I know Lancia is a damaged brand in the UK, but Chrysler is even lower in the public's estimation, I imagine.  It has no history to draw on that will resonate with customers, and all the Chryslers that have been sold here in recent years have been poor cars, marketed at the budget end of their markets, with poor sales and residuals.  Marchionne needs to think very carefully about which brand he chooses in each country, and avoid a one size fits all approach to this.

[sparehead3]

As long as they're being sold somewhere in RHD then that mean sales here are more likely.
I like the idea of swapping the badges over though

[neil-yaj396]

As RHD production of the Delta seems more and more nailed on shouldn't LMC contact Fiat and point out what we're all thinking? The UK would after all be the main RHD market (not sure where FAG Chrysler stand re Japan/India). The LMC clearly still commands some respect at Fiat (e.g. provision of speakers at the AGM). Given that Lancia's re-launch in the UK was scuppered at the 11th hour it might not take much to convince them?

I can't say I'm a fan of the DIY re-badging scheme. Perhaps we can avoid it?

Neil

[fensaddler]

You mean me don't you...   "Go on Chris, go and ask for more porridge."  They'll kick me out of the workhouse you know...

[toby2449]

i reckon the whole Lancia being re-badged as Chryslers thing means the return of the Lancia badge to Uk & Ireland is off. Holy cow i can't believe we're been handed a crummy American badge instead of a sexy Italian one!
Not sure if FGA will take much notice of LMC, but hey if anyone thingks it'll help, i'll lend a hand in any way i could

[neil-yaj396]

Sounds like a volunteer to me Chris and they can't throw you out of the workhouse, after all there is no house in the UK at the mo!

(At the risk of straying from the thread how's the VW? I hired a 1.4 Golf in December. Unbeatable build quality but that 1.4 could only just match the Beta - complete with leaky 30 year old carb - for MPG.)

Neil

[fensaddler]

Neil - On the strayed off subject, I do like my Scirocco, though the front seats are no match for our 147, and I'm still tempted to go Italian again next time (I shall be having a good look at the new Giulietta, and hopinh that I might even have a Delta to choose...).  The 158 bhp engine in the veedub means its plenty quick, with bags of torque from the supercharger and turbo, and its a great handling car, and a real four seater with a decent boot.  And it was very good in the recent snow.  Economy wise I can get near to 40 mpg on a long motorway run, sometimes past 40 if the average speed drops to around 60 - but I tend to average about 34-35mpg in mixed motoring.  Unfortunately I spend a lot of time in heavy traffic commuting, so on my run to and from work I can see 36 to the gallon, or barely over 20.

[toby2449]

now lads, back on topic, taken from AutoBild, its a bit of a dodgy translation....

In collaboration with Chrysler Lancia gets another chance - perhaps the last ?


Chrysler marries Fiat, the brands Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep encounter Fiat, Alfa and Lancia. The CEO Sergio Marchionne will explain in mid-April how this will work.
We reveal just yet what plans he has for Lancia

In 2011 comes the new Ypsilon (and will be called then Appia like the classis Lancia-model). Based on Fiat Panda.

The Delta undergoes its first modernization. And in addition there will be a Thesis-successor, which will also bear a historical name : Aurelia. It will will use the platform of the Chrysler 300C, thus has rear wheel drive.

In 2012 there will be a new Musa (will be then called Flavia) and a new mid-size/range car called Aprillia. It will share the technology with the new Chrysler Sebring. And from the Chrysler Voyager, the groups strategists will "knit"quickly a new Phedra. We have to wait till 2012 for the Flamina sportcoupé - also with rear wheel drive.
And in 2013 the new Delta will come (based on Fiat technology) and will accompanied by a Chrysler version [read: Delta with Chrysler badge]

The Italo-western remains exciting. In order to prevent that Lancia and Chrysler compete in the core markets, the 300C, Sebring amd Voyager will probably disappear from Europe. In return, Chrysler shall offer new Lancia-minis and -compacts in the US.


The hottest question : How will the european Lancia-customers will react, that their favourite brand can only survive with the aid of US-technology ? Only when all Group brands have coordinated their model cycles each other, Lancia can be (more) distinctive in appearance again.


source: Autobild

so, are we now to take it that Lancia WON'T be pulled from all markets & only left in Italy?? Jes*s can we have some clarity from FGA on Lancia, this is driving me crazy!!!