If you watched yesterday’s coverage of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ five-year plan you may have noticed that the company outlined strategies for each of its brands, except Lancia.
The Italian brand was ignored completely by Sergio Marchionne and his subordinates, as if it didn’t exist. There was only one mention of Lancia in FCA’s European presentation, which talked about reorganizing the network coherently “with Lancia becoming an Italy-driven brand.” That’s not something new, as earlier this year Marchionne said in an interview that Lancia would become a brand for the Italian market only.
Lancia’s current lineup for the Italian market includes the Ypsilon, Delta, Thema (rebadged Chrysler 300) and Voyager (rebadged Chrysler Town & Country). However, earlier reports said Lancia would eventually be reduced to selling only the Ypsilon. That means the Italian brand would become a single-model, single-market brand. One does not have to be a fortuneteller to realize what would happen next.
Add to the equation the fact that Fiat’s strategy includes building emotional cars, which means it will step more in Lancia’s territory, and things are really clear: Lancia is being slowly euthanized. In fact, it has been for several years, so we should not be surprised if it disappears completely within a few years.
By Dan Mihalascu
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