'So Fiat sell the 500 to Lancia who tweek it then sell it to Chrysler who nail on some badges and punt it into the UK.'

That's a Dodge! ;)

I've sometimes thought a tie up between Lancia, Saab and Rover would have made all these companies succeed. There .would have been some key synergies.

Lancia pulled out of the UK long after the cars that rusted.

Avant, I've taken this (further down the post) from motortorque.com. I believe these cars were initially going to be sold through a network of Lancia dealers. However, this changed when Fiat bought Lancia and IMO it changed to Chrysler as a cost cutting exercise. Mind you, that is only my opinion.

Personally, I don't think Chrysler has much presence in the UK i.e. it's not a strong brand. In my mind I think of the very American PT Cruiser and the Grand Voyager. I feel its totally wrong that Lancia is being badged as a Chrysler, especially given the heritage of the marque before Fiat (apart from the Delta Integrale and Stratos?) went on to ruin it. At one time the cars were engineered to the highest standards.

For me, the all time greatest Lancia, was the B20 Gran Turismo. Indeed, it is one of the all time greatest cars ever, as a driver's car and for it's simple beauty, both inside and out. I belive they look most wonderful, with Borrani wire wheels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xL7NQrK8fzM&feature=

http://autocollections.com/index.cfm?key=3479&action=details&tab=inventory&cartable=related

I think the one of the final nails in the coffin for UK Lancia was the Dedra. Lancia UK wanted the name changed beacause it was too close to Deidre!

It’s a strange one but the reasoning behind the decision seems logical.

According to the Italian conglomerate, Chrysler has something of a presence in the UK, as well as a following, whereas Lancia doesn’t; having pulled out of the market in the early 1990s amid complaints of rust and reliability.

So ‘sense’ prevailed at Fiat HQ and the new owners of Chrysler have decided that Lancias will be Chryslers, but other than a badge, they will apparently carry zero influence from the American brand, other than its name.

In other words they are Lancias, and not even new ones at that, they’ve just had a new badge slapped on.

Whether Chrysler has a big enough brand presence in the UK to stake a claim to new buyers in the popular supermini and hatchback segments – where the new Ypsilon and Delta will sit – is up for debate, but the move follows a growing trend from a number of foreign manufacturers’ attempts to conquer the difficult UK market.

Ssangyong and Chevrolet are two that immediately come to mind, while Kia and Hyundai have followed a similar path previously.

After slow starts to their lives in the UK, both Ssangyong and Chevrolet went through a period of reorganisation where they updated their vehicles with a more European focus.

That meant new interiors, drives and engines to fall in line with European customer demands, which typically favour a higher-quality interior, more efficient engines and softer rides.

While Chevrolet has already released a number of models since its European makeover, including the new Cruze hatchback, Ssangyong is currently in the middle of that process with the Korando crossover SUV.

The result is a range of models which are more suited to the needs of European motorists which has allowed the manufacturers to gain more sales.

With Fiat’s decision to rebadge Lancias as Chryslers, it’s essentially doing the same thing.

Lancia is a European brand and still sells cars across the continent, it will continue to do so as Lancia outside of the UK, however in Britain its vehicles will be badged as Chryslers.

They’re so European in fact, that some journalists have noted the similarities between the Ypsilon and the Fiat 500, on which it is loosely based – one of the most European-inspired models available on the market.

It’s a difficult one to get your head around but one that should see the return of the Lancia and the preservation of Chrysler, in one form or another.

Edited by Trilogy on 03/11/2011 at 17:52

'Actually I think there could be a market for another brand that would provide a range of cars that weren't too expensive but provided a little more than average in terns of performance and luxury - I mean the sort of thing that Lancia, Riley and Triumph provided a generation ago (two generations in the case of Riley) and the sort of market that BMW has almost to itself nowadays.'

About 20 years ago a retired doctor mentioned to me that he thought of BMW as a modern day Alvis.

Now, maybe this could be a space for Saab, if it survives. It could take some time. I can remeber the boss of Audi saying he wished he'd created a new brand rather than revive Audi. Lexus and Infiniti spring to mind. A shame Lexus' styling is not up to much. Infiniti is better. If Lancia and Alfa went back to their roots for inspiration, they'd be all the better for it.