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Marchionne: Chrysler And Lancia Could Be Merged Within The Year

 
12 5,282 views Jan 19, 2010
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Chrysler-branded Lancia Delta live at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show

Chrysler-branded Lancia Delta live at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show

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Chrysler's North American lineup is for a major shakeup within the next couple of years and according to the company's new Italian CEO the first changes could start by the end of the year.

Processes are already in place to help merge Chrysler with Italy's Lancia brand (a subsidiary of Fiat). Chrysler would be phased out of the European market--it's models used to fill the gaps in Lancia's lineup overseas--and here in North America Lancia products would be used to expand Chrysler's limited range.

The information comes directly from Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne who revealed to Autocar that Chrysler and Lancia could converge as early as the end of the year and that the move would make sense because each marque had gaps in its range that could be filled by the other.

“In Europe, Lancia is an undersized, underdeveloped brand, with nothing bigger than the Delta. Chrysler, which has a true global reach, has nothing smaller. Put them together and you have a full lineup,” he said.

The first clues have already been revealed. At last month's 2010 Detroit Auto Show Chrysler showed off a re-badged Lancia Delta (pictured) and late last year Lancia CEO Olivier Francois was appointed head of Chrysler--a clear indication that the two brands will become more closely entwined.

[Autocar]





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Comments (12)

  1. By atr_hugo Posted: 10/12/2009 9:27am PDT

    Interesting - the Lancia name signified good engineering (prior to FIAT acquiring them ; -) as did the Chrysler brand prior to the late '70s. Will any of that thoughtful engineering emerge with a consolidated product line? And it would be nice to see the Lancia name back in the US.
     
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  2. By bepsf Posted: 10/12/2009 9:32am PDT

    That Delta is an attractive machine - Could make a good Sebring replacement...
    ...but what of the 200C EV Concept? Is that dead?
     
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  3. By NoNameDenton Posted: 10/12/2009 11:45pm PDT

    Good looking Lancia
     
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  4. fb_829648205 avatar Connor McLane Posted: 1/19/2010 8:13pm PST

    I trust Marchionne's decisions. He seems to know what he's doing.
     
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  5. By  mini sd card Posted: 1/19/2010 8:28pm PST

    I must say Group C/GTP cars were great because of the competition. I'm pretty sure that the current LMP1 prototypes could hang or even beat these cars, but you're not going to see a field of factory backed prototypes from Lancia/Ferrari, Porsche, Jaguar, Mazda, Toyota, and Nissan.The best series going for next year will be the LMGT category - Porsche, Ferrari and Corvette all battling it out in enduros with cars that are derived from street cars. Yep, I'll be watching that closely...
     
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  6. fb_100000275684479 avatar Michael Escobar Posted: 1/19/2010 9:15pm PST

    Interesting, I could see the Delta filling the small car gap in Chrysler's lineup, but it still irks me that the current Delta can't begin to fill the early '90s Integrale shoes.
    @bepsf, I expect the 2011(?) 300 to include at least some of the design language of the 200 concept (which has to be one of the most attractive designs Chrysler has come up with as late), given the recent teasers.
     
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  7. By R2Dad Posted: 1/20/2010 10:07am PST

    Chrysler is a trojan horse. Look what happened to its last merger partner. Why do the Italians, who are more provincial than the Germans, think they can manage this aggregation any better? The free price tag was the sneaky part--only our government could have negotiated it. Once this Chrysler organism latches on to FIAT's internals, the capital destruction begins. The concept of mergers, mergers of equals, or whatever you want to call it in the auto world, is a farce.
     
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  8. By Huntley Brinkley Posted: 1/20/2010 10:46am PST

    atr_hugo - I'd be surprised if they dumped the Chrysler name in favor of Lancia in the USA. My guess is that a nearly identical lineup of cars will be marketed as Chryslers in North America and as Lancias in Europe.
     
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  9. fb_100000275684479 avatar Michael Escobar Posted: 1/20/2010 5:48pm PST

    @R2Dad,
    Daimler-Benz destroyed Chrysler, not the other way around. They let it rot and then abandoned it, leaving it for dead, which is exactly where it was two years ago when the recession struck. Already broken, beaten, and scarred, the limp Chrysler organization was put on a government feeding tube until Fiat aquired it.
     
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  10. By NoNameDenton Posted: 1/20/2010 7:40pm PST

    Michael Escobar is right for the most part but missed where Mercedes stole all of Chrysler's cash on hand that they had before the so called "merger of equals" and then Cerberus' lame attempt at ownership.
     
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  11. By Alex Posted: 1/22/2010 5:19am PST

    R2Dad, maybe the Italians are more provincial than the Germans but sure FIAT as company not. Fiat is CNH, IVECO, COMAU and so on with a lot of different companies arount the world from more than a century. (Wikipedia: "Fiat's earliest foreign assembly plants was one in Poughkeepsie, New York, between 1910 and 1913")
     
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  12. By Bill Burke Posted: 1/24/2010 9:14am PST

    R2DAD, The mergers are completely different. Daimler never saw Chrysler as an equal and prevented Chrysler from entering Mercedes' market segment. In addition the largely European stock holders resented Chrysler and revolted against technology sharing. In essance this arrogant group boiled over when the Chrysler Crossfire ( an improved MB SLK)was launched and they wanted heads to roll. Everyone knew that it was Chrysler reserve funds that kept Mercedes afloat during their down market years. Call it theft, at best.
    Fiat on the other hand shares Chryslers' survival DNA and has a respect for their tradition of superior American engineering. Fiat and Chrysler have different strengths (F= small cars/sports cars.. C= large cars/SUVs/trucks) which complement the merger. Marchionne also realizes they both need each other to survive and prosper. Don't sell Chrysler short, it has some very good product, Jeep,Chrysler 300, Ram trucks and minivan world leadership. Fiat has a global distribution/dealership network that could double Chrysler sales in five years. There is no doubt this merger has great possibilities on both sides of the Atlantic between two companies that have had to scrap to survive and share a common destiny.
     
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