It’s a new premium brand within the Stellantis group… but it’s not really new. In fact, Lancia is preparing to relaunch in different markets after a long hiatus that began in 2017 with, as the only exception, its national market.
A new Ypsilon to relaunch the brand in 2024
In fact, the urban Ypsilon continues to be sold in the Italian market, with commercial performance still very appreciable for a vehicle launched in 2011. Last year, it was simply the second best-selling car in Italy, far behind the Fiat Panda, but in Front of 500.
And it is precisely with a new Ypsilon that the Italian brand founded in 1906 intends to relaunch itself. It will be presented at the beginning of 2024 for marketing in the second half of the year in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Few details are still known about this first model of Lancia’s rebirth, other than that it will be a 4-meter-long city car, a technical cousin of the Peugeot 208 and the Opel Corsa. It will be launched with hybrid and electric motors.
A third premium brand in Stellantis
A “B segment” of city cars that remains especially popular in France: 437,000 units sold last year, of which 9% are electric. On the premium side, the market is more restricted, 34,000 sales in 2022, but also more electrified, with 21%.
For its launch, Lancia should have 20 points of sale in France, in the main cities, and aims to offer a complementary online experience:
“Customers connect between 4 and 5 times before going to a dealership, so this aspect of continuity between digital and physical is still very important today,” underlines Joël Verany, director of premium brands at Stellantis for France.
The idea also remains to properly separate the brand universes within the Stellantis premium set. Compared to Alfa Romeo, which will maintain a more sporty aspect, and DS, which embodies “French luxury”, Lancia must represent “Italian elegance”, explains the manager.
A 100% electric future from 2026
Two models are intended for the suite, which are from famous ancient names, with a Gamma in 2026 (“a new amiral vaisseau, long 4.60 m”) and a Delta in 2028 (4.40 m). long).
Long-awaited developments that should be inspired by the “Pu+Ra HPE” concept: a fun name (even for a prototype), which evokes purity and radicality, especially in the lines of the vehicles of the future. When HPE, for “High Performance Electric”, represents Lancia’s 100% electric future.
Starting in 2026, and therefore with the future Gamma, all Lancia news will be 100% electric. The hybrid version of the Ypsilon should, for its part, remain in the catalog until 2027.
“The Stellantis group has invested more than 30 billion euros, especially in decarbonization energies, which represent the needs of today’s customers. These needs must be accessible to everyone at all customer levels and these technologies will be available at Lancia “, summarizes Joel Verany.
Among the group’s other premium brands, the transition to electric is also planned well before the European goal of 100% zero-emission sales by 2035: in 2027 for Alfa Romeo and from 2024 for DS.
Source: BFM TV
