Lancia dead? No, in Italy and nowhere else is the brand just active. The Ypsilon is the only car that the manufacturer still produces and it is that compact Italian that will soon be available with a modern powertrain.
In 2014, then FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne announced that Lancia would eventually withdraw from all markets other than the home market. Since 2017 you could only get the Ypsilon in the Netherlands and now Lancia has indeed become a brand that is only active in Italy. The only model that Lancia offers is the same Ypsilon. Nine years after the introduction of the third generation Ypsilon, the compact Lancia benefits from electrification.
The Ypsilon will also be available as a Hybrid. Don’t expect too much from that. Just as with the Fiat 500 and Panda, the Hybrid designation only stands for a powertrain with mild hybrid technology. Just like its brothers, the Ypsilon will soon be available with a new 1.0, a three-cylinder from Fiats new Firefly engine family that delivers 70 hp and 92 Nm in the base. The 12V-mild-hybrid system is supposed to result in a fuel saving of around 20 percent compared to the Ypsilon with 1.2 that gulped pure gasoline. With its new powertrain, the Ypsilon sprints in 14.2 to a speed of 100 km / h. Its top speed is 163 km / h and the average combined consumption must be 4.0-4.1 l / 100 km.
The starting price of the Ypsilon Hybrid is € 14,450. In this Silver version you have to do it with, among other things, 15-inch wheels with hubcaps. The richer-equipped Gold, including light-alloy wheels and a Uconnect infotainment system, costs € 15,750. Fun fact: the Hybrid is the cheapest Ypsilon that you can buy now. Higher up the price ladder are the Ypsilon with a 69 hp 1.2 that slurps both LPG and gasoline (from € 16,200) and a version with a 70 hp 0.9 that can handle gasoline and CNG (from € 17,950). The Ypsilon does not return to other markets.
Last year a total of 1,916,320 cars were sold in Italy. 58,753 of them were a Lancia Ypsilon. With that, sales fell by 10 percent last year compared to 2018. In the last full year of sales of the Ypsilon in the Netherlands, 108 copies found a Dutch owner.