TURIN — Lancia is making ready to develop gross sales outdoors Italy by appointing nation managers, CEO Luca Napolitano mentioned this week.
The Stellantis model will return to Europe-wide gross sales in 2024, beginning with Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Different European nations may observe shortly after. Gross sales in abroad markets similar to Japan, South Africa or Australia could begin after 2030, Napolitano informed Automotive Information Europe at an occasion in Turin on Wednesday.
Napolitano didn’t give extra particulars in regards to the government appointments.
Beneath Fiat Chrysler Vehicles, Lancia retreated to the Italian home market in 2017, and since then has offered solely the fourth-generation Ypsilon small automobile. The subsequent era Ypsilon, due in 2024, will start Lancia’s export push.
Napolitano expects that gross sales outdoors of Italy will make up 25 to 30 p.c of Lancia’s quantity within the preliminary part, with a aim of reaching 50 p.c in the long run.
Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares is searching for to sharply improve income and earnings from the group’s three premium manufacturers – Alfa Romeo, DS and Lancia – and its sole luxurious model, Maserati. In response to the Dare Ahead 2030 plan offered on March 1, the 4 manufacturers collectively are concentrating on a four-fold improve in income and a five-fold improve in earnings.
Lancia’s first new export mannequin would be the fifth era of the Ypsilon small automobile, which can develop to about 4 meters lengthy from the present mannequin’s 3837 mm.
The present Ypsilon, launched in 2015 and based mostly on a FCA platform, continues to promote nicely in Italy. Lancia offered 43,735 Ypsilons final 12 months and 10,865 within the first quarter, in line with figures from the Italian Transport Ministry, making it the third best-selling mannequin general final 12 months and the No. 2 general from January to March in its home Italian market.
The subsequent Ypsilon would be the first full-electric Lancia mannequin and the final to supply an inside combustion engine, because the model plans to promote solely EVs beginning in 2028. The Ypsilon, code-named L21 and set to be inbuilt Zaragoza, Spain, shall be based mostly on a model of Stellantis’ CMP structure, which additionally underpins small automobiles from Peugeot, Opel and DS.
From 2026, Lancia will launch solely electrical fashions, beginning with a 4600 mm-long fastback codenamed L74 due in 2026 and a 4300 mm-long “compact utility car” due in 2028.
Napolitano mentioned the 2026 mannequin, beforehand internally nicknamed Aurelia, has advanced in its design and proportions in order that it gained’t have any connections to the storied Aurelia sedan from the early Nineteen Fifties.
Outdoors of Italy, Lancia is planning to have about 100 showrooms in about 60 European cities. The showrooms could have a small footprint of 80 to 140 sq. meters (860-1,500 sq. ft).
Lancia now has 220 sellers in Italy, a quantity that may lower by an undisclosed quantity when the model transitions to a so-called company distribution mannequin in 2023.
Within the conventional franchise mannequin, the supplier owns the stock of automobiles after which sells them to clients. Franchised sellers maintain larger prices – together with paying for the showroom’s company id – which are compensated by larger margins.
Beneath the company mannequin, the automaker retains the stock till the car is offered by the retail agent to a remaining buyer, non-public or fleet. Retail brokers obtain a smaller fee, however their prices are decrease, on condition that stock financing and company id are the duty of the automaker.