It"s no secret that after many years of delays and setbacks, the Fiat Group will finally present the Lancia Ypsilon"s replacement at the Geneva Salon in about two week from now. What isn"t known is that the new Ypsilon, which will be offered for the first time ever in a five-door body style, will be sold in Great Britain and Ireland under the Chrysler badge.
Back in 2008, Fiat canned its plans to reintroduce the Lancia brand to the UK and other right-hand drive markets citing the global economic crisis as the main reason. But after the Italian firm forged an alliance with the Chrysler Group in 2010, the group"s CEO Sergio Marchionne took the decision to merge the Lancia and Chrysler brands, and create a single full-line brand with different names from market to market. Lancia"s 2012 supermini is the first example of the company"s new strategy as it will be available in Europe"s right hand markets as the Chrysler Ypsilon, however, it won"t be the only product exchange between the two companies, but more on that later in the weekend. Even though we don"t have any information on the matter yet, it is possible that the Chrysler Ypsilon be offered in other markets as well in the near future.
From what we learned, the new five-door 2012 Ypsilon will get hidden rear-door handles (?la Alfa Giulietta), numerous options to personalize the interior, various high-tech features and a choice of fuel-efficient engines including a 95HP 1.3-liter diesel and a 85-horsepower 0.9-liter TwinAir turbocharged two-cylinder gasoline unit. European sales of the new Ypsilon will start in June.
