Lancia Ypsilon 2012

The 2011 Geneva Motor Show was the setting of the world premiere of the new Lancia Ypsilon, a "small flagship" that in just 3.84 metres packs the best of Italian style, innovation and eco-friendliness. For the first time it is proposed in a 5-door version designed to offer even greater convenience and comfort to devotees of Lancia charm, technological excellence and unique style.

At the heart of the Lancia Ypsilon's design is an original approach to the "premium" car concept that redefines the meaning of the word "luxury", fascinating those who seek originality and character, those who love technology and elegance, and those who admire quality and innovation. With Lancia Ypsilon, luxury becomes something unique that triggers an emotion, the pleasure of "owning" but without pretentious display, the search for uniqueness in any area, the statement of one's true personality without allowing himself to be swayed by the judgements of others.

The new Lancia Ypsilon, which will be on the market from June across key European markets and from September in Great Britain and Ireland with the Chrysler brand, is the fourth series of the successful model - over one and a half million vehicles currently on the road - born in 1985 when the Y10 debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. It was a miniature flagship with style and content features never seen before on an economy car of the day, marking that forerunner spirit that was to accompany the model until today. It was the Lancia Y's turn in 1996: elegant, elite, with a strong personality that reinforced the concept of "customized luxury". Hence we arrived in 2003 when the third generation, the Lancia Ypsilon, brought to the world of city-cars the technology and "class" till then exclusively reserved for models in higher segments.

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New Lancia Ypsilon

The upcoming 2011 Geneva Salon will probably be the most important motor show in Lancia’s recent history, as the Italian brand is trying to start off its revitalization plan with a push of new models. However, the recently unveiled Flavia and Thema sedans and Grand Voyager MPV didn’t quite catch the public’s eye due to the fact that they’re all rebadged Chryslers, while the Delta hatchback hasn't even come close in repeating the first generation model's success.
This leaves the new Ypsilon to fend for the 105-year old company’s honor. The Italian firm's new small car is considered to be a “pocket flagship” and has been given a key role in Lancia's turnaround strategy, thoroughly emphasized during a press event that Carscoop was invited to attend at the Fiat Group’s Centro Stile design center in Turin, Italy.

Sales growth is critical to Lancia and in order to achieve this the automaker has repositioned the new Ypsilon, which for the first time in its 25 year-long history, is offered in a 5-door body style. According to Lancia Product Manager Claudio Nervi, this will help the new model to cover a much larger percentage of the B-segment than current 3-door only model.
Choosing the platform on which to build the Ypsilon was very important because Lancia wanted to accommodate up to five people, while keeping the overall length below 4 meters to avoid competition with larger B-segment cars. “Going to a Grande Punto platform also would have meant more competition”, said Nervi.
The Fiat 500’s platform came up as an obvious choice but it was stretched by 90 mm in length to improve passenger space. Nevertheless, Lancia considers that the main strength of the 3.84-meter-long model will be its stylish and not its practical side. “The Ypsilon emphasizes style. It’s not the rational customer’s choice”, said Lancia Communications Director Rino Drogo.
As for the Ypsilon's rivals, Nervi pointed out that “the main competitors are the Citroën C3, Ford Fiesta and Toyota Yaris”. He said that compared to the C3, the Ypsilon has “more innovative styling”, while he also claimed that it trumps the Fiesta thanks to “more personalization options and better quality”. Nervi added that Lancia’s new small car is also “more expressive than the Yaris and has more upscale optional equipment”.
Lancia aims to widen the customer base by targeting male customers as well. “The typical Ypsilon buyer is between 30 and 45 years old, technologically up to date, with a high social-cultural status and strong fashion sense”, Lancia officials said during the presentation.

The design will play a major part in attracting the aforementioned customers. The new Ypsilon has “evolved the styling language introduced by the Delta achieving better results due to the smaller size”, Claudio Nervi commented. Although it’s a 5-door model, Lancia wanted to keep the coupe character of the previous generation. To achieve this, the designers used hidden rear door handles and a sloping roof, along with a rising beltline. The choice of exterior colors will be the “wildest” in the segment, according to Color and Material Director Rosella Guasco, while the cabin will use high quality materials and various trim pieces that can be matched to the exterior finish.
To underline its “pocket flagship” status, Lancia said the new model will come with several exclusive features such as a large glass panoramic roof, the Magic Parking 2 semi-automatic parking system and a cap-less refueling system. These will be exclusive to the Ypsilon for at least one year.
Lancia expects to sell 122,000 examples of the Ypsilon annually from 2012, including the right-hand drive Chrysler version that will go on sale in the UK and Ireland in September. For this year, the Italians expect to shift up to 40,000 units with sales set to start in June, while the firm will also continue to offer the previous generation model as well.

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2011 Lancia Delta Update

The onslaught of new and updated models from Lancia heading to the Geneva Motor Show continues with the unveiling of the 2011 Delta, which comes with a brand-new grille designed to reflect the partnership with Chrysler and the sharing of vehicles between the two brands, plus new proposals in terms of trim options and engine choices.
The first thing you'll notice on the 2011 model year Delta is the new grille design that was penned by the Centro Stile Lancia, and features horizontal instead of vertical chrome bars. It's styling is similar to the one found on Chrysler's latest vehicles such as the 300 and 200 sedans. Lancia also updated the Delta's trim levels which now include the base Steel, Silver, Gold and Platinum versions.
For 2011, buyers can choose from seven different powertrains including: a 120HP 1.4-liter turbo petrol, which is also available in a dual-fuel petrol/LPG version; a 140HP 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo petrol; a 200HP 1.8-liter turbo petrol; a 120HP 1.6-liter Multijet diesel; a 165HP 2.0-liter Multijet diesel; a 190HP 1.9-liter twin-turbo Multijet diesel, and a new base 1.6-liter Multijet diesel.
The new entry-level 1.6 MultiJet turbo diesel is Euro 5-compliant and produces 105-horsepower and 300 Nm (221 lb-ft) of peak torque, for a 0-100km/h [62mph] acceleration time of 10.7 seconds and top speed of 186 km/h [116 mph]. Matched to a six-speed manual gearbox, the diesel is said to return improved fuel economy (no figures were released) over the 120HP version and CO2 emissions 120 h/km.
The 2011 Delta will go on sale from mid-March across key European markets and from June under the Chrysler badge (like the new Ypsilon) in Great Britain and Ireland.

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