International Lancia Forums

ok, so Lancias are and have been selling well so far.. even though they need
to get over their reliance on the Italian market and push much more abroad.

but how long can this last (the good sales)? There is just the Ypsilon, Musa,
Thesis and Phedra now. I see in 2006 we will have a Ypsilon facelift and a
compact SUV. Then in 2007 a Delta, Fulvia, new minivan and Musa facelift..
but is this really enough to keep the momentum going? Why not a new
Lybra based on the 159?

They should really consider to sell the Ypsilon, Delta and Fulvia in the US..
Its a shame to see the Japanese use European breeding (Yaris and Fit)
to gain more market share in the US where the European B-seg cars are
by far better rides... Maybe this will be round two of the Europeans missing
their chance at a time the US wants small/efficient cars..

I agree, I think that Lancia should head back to the US and bring the Delta, Fulvia and Ypsilon (though the Ypsilon might need to be renamed sine I could see it having a problem in the US). I think that they should also build a new Lybra off the 159 platform, but reuse a classic name for it. Having a few of these cars in the US under a Lancia nameplate would do wonders. In honesty, if Alfa is planning on coming back to the States in the near future, they should take Lancia with them as well and sell both cars at the dealers they plan to set up here in the States.

This brings up the problem I anticipated from the day Fiat took over Alfa. How do you rationalize both product lines?

While Lancia was always more discreet and more of an engineer's car than Alfa, which always had more sporting pretensions, the two makes pretty much aimed at the same slice of the market. They still do. And it looks to me like the one with less name recognition--Lancia--goes down the drain.

General Motors ended up with the same problem and had to retire the Oldsmobile name. And they still have too many product lines.

I really think in many ways GM (and Ford and Chrysler) are more of a special case.
They pushed too far thinking that the customers were complete idiots and wouldn't
see behind blatant rebadging of one car as five different vehicles.

At least the Lancia Lybra and Alfa Romeo 156 were very distinct products. You
see the same thing with the Punto and Ypsilon. Its different with the "minivan"
products though.. Idea/Musa, Ulysse/Phedra..

in my opinion its to do with good product regardless of 'positioning' within a group; its as though Fiat believes that Alfa Romeo or Lancia buyers only look at Italian brands when shopping.

The competition is global and what if Italy has two top upper/middle brands? Why is the impression that Lancia would cannibalise Alfa and vice-versa? Most Lancia owners would not be seen 'dead' in an Alfa...they'd sooner be seen in a Volvo or Saab or God forbid, a BMW if no Lancia fit the bill (after having rejected offerings from Fiat too...). GM is a bad example as thier collection overlapped all-over the place...actually Oldsmobile was from my Europan perspective the one brand which seemed to have a different image and appeal and they killed it! Why not have kept Olds and merged Saturn into it? What does Saturn represent? Sorry for digressing...

When my father bought his first Lancia in 1968, Alfa Romeo was nowhere on his shopping list...the competition was perhaps Saab or Volvo or Audi or even Fiat with their 125 model at the time. Lancias stood for engineering excellence, elegance and sportiness. Alfa were in a similar segment with perhaps 'sport' written a little bigger on their brief whilst Lancia was bigger on engineering and elegance. It could be the same today.

When I bought my first Lancia in 1984 (after a Fiat..), Alfa Romeo was not the competition for me either...well, I've stayed with Lancia hence, and hope that the new segment C/D car will do it for me as my Lybra is now 5+ with over 110,000kms... my best/most reliable Lancia yet

greetings from Geneva!

I agree with Philip. A Lancia is engineering quality, Alfa is the italian equivalent of BMW. Brash. And where Alfa gain the "sports" label from when Lancia has better racing pedigree is beyond me. I admit I have strayed and had a couple of Alfa 75s inbetween my many Themas. The Twin Spark I enjoyed - for 6 weeks before it was stolen - but the 3.0V6 was a real disappointment. The Lancias on the other hand have always been thoroughly enjoyable and a pleasure to own. I now have a Kappa Coupe 20vt which has 151000km and is still quick, exceptionally refined and is the only one in Scotland! A Thesis beckons in the not too distant future.

Hi Lindsay

I stepped out of my badly crashed Alfa Duetto straight into my first S2 Fulvia Coupe, and instantly knew I'd never have had that accident in the Lancia.

This has been my feeling ever since, even having driven several much later Alfas and now the Kappa 20VT.

There's something you can't quite put your finger on, but the Lancia's a better car...

They're definitely nicer to drive, and present a much clearer picture of what's going on than nearly all modern cars I've had (the misfortune) to drive.

The engineering, admittedly more obviously in the earlier cars, is presented as a statement by the Lancia operation, where in many others it is disguised or even hidden, often being 100% cost-driven and often shoddy.

That's why were on this forum, isn't it ?

Regards to all,
Justin