Lancia is currently only a shadow of its former self, but Stellantis claims to have plans for its future, appointing French designer Jean-Pierre Ploué to supervise the young talent at Lancia Design in Torino Centro Stile.

If you are wondering how come Stellantis chose a French to lead the renaissance of the famous Italian brand, you have to look at his illustrious CV.

Jean-Pierre Ploué’s career started in Renault (1985-1995) where he designed the Twingo (1992) and many more interesting vehicles under the direction of Patrick Le Quément. The next steps for him were Volkswagen Design Centre (1995-1998) and Ford (1998-1999) before moving to the PSA Group.

In 1999, he became the Head of Citroën Design Centre, supervising the creation of several production models and futuristic concept cars like the C-SportLounge (2005), the C-Métisse (2006), and the GT (2008). Thanks to his work in transforming the image of the French brand, a decade later he was promoted to Director of Design for the whole PSA Group, and recently he became a Stellantis Chief Design Officer.

See Also: Lancia Is Still (Barely) Alive, Introduces New Ypsilon Hybrid EcoChic In Italy

Today, Ploué has the difficult but quite interesting challenge to bring Lancia back from the dead. The aging Ypsilon – first introduced in 2011 and still on sale in the Italian market after numerous but discreet updates – is the sole model in Lancia’s range, so the experienced designer has a lot of work to do in order to establish a new design language for the Italian brand.

“Lancia renaissance is a truly exciting challenge,”, said Ploué. “Lancia is an iconic brand, which will be restored to its central historical position in Europe, leveraging on its huge potential.”

See Also: Stellantis Starts Work On Jointly Developed Alfa Romeo, DS And Lancia Models

Luca Napolitano, CEO of Lancia will work with Jean-Pierre Ploué to re-establish the brand in Europe.

Lancia will benefit from the parts bin of Stellantis, jointly developing new models with Alfa Romeo and DS Automobiles in order to make it a viable business in the future. Our guess is that the first new model will be an electrified premium B-SUV based on the CMP platform (Peugeot 2008, DS 3 Crossback, Opel Mokka, etc.).

We know that Lancia fans all over the world will be asking whether the brand will build modern day versions of some of its iconic models. However, we wouldn’t get our hopes up for a sportscar like the Kimera Automobili EVO037 which is a reimagined version of the mid-engined Lancia 037 Stradale, or a new Stratos or Delta Integrale. There is no doubt that those projects would look amazing, but Lancia must focus on more profitable segments – at least for now.

On June 17th at 11:00 am CET, Lancia will premiere the first chapter of a docufilm titled “Elegance in motion since 1906”, where CEO Luca Napolitano will talk about the design heritage of the brand.

Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director
Stellantis Gives Lancia A New Lease Of Life, Appoints New Design Director