Chrysler-badged Lancia
Chrysler-badged Lancia
Chrysler-branded Lancia Delta live at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show
We've known since Sergio Marchionne delivered the marathon press conference on the company's five-year plan that Lancia products would be coming to the U.S. rebadged as Chryslers, and we even pegged it as a re-badged Lancia Delta in December, but today we got our first glimpse of the new face of badge engineering: the Chrysler Delta.Thinly veiled with a Chrysler-eque grille and badging, the Delta is essentially a straight copy of the Lancia model sold in Europe. While we don't know things like on-sale dates, safety homologation or prices, we can expect the Delta bring a more refined, sporty and useful--it's a hatchback--feel to the Chrysler lineup.
The rebranding of the Lancia is a step toward Marchionne's desire to boost Chrysler's sales. It remains to be seen how heavily re-engineered the vehicle will be for U.S. sale, but this Delta is expected to be the first such product so it may not have time to be changed significantly from its Lancia roots.
Whatever Chrysler decides to do, we'll keep you updated with the latest.
