Just as news hit that Fiat sourced its Lancia ad agency for a new Chrysler commercial, Fiat is considering a slight role reversal by expanding Chrysler’s presence in the global market with Lancia platforms. The reported changes could come as early as 2011 with a Chrysler-branded Lancia model going on sale in Europe.
Fiat- Chrysler CEO, Sergio Marchionne, said that the consideration for using Chrysler’s name on global vehicles is based largely on the idea that Chrysler has a greater global awareness than does Fiat’s Lancia brand. Although Marchionne did discuss the use of Lancia specifically, he did not specify any details on the future plans for the 103-year-old brand.
“We need to be very careful that we don’t destroy Lancia’s roots, to find a way to preserve the identity of Lancia through an agreement that commonizes as much of the portfolio as possible (with Chrysler),†Marchionne said.
Further backing the idea of a growing global role for Chrysler, in a discussion last month with AutomotiveNewsEurope, Marchionne said, “There is no doubt that, outside a limited number of markets in Europe, Chrysler is going to be a global brand.”
Although the expansion of Chrysler in the global markets is major news, it would not be the start of global sales for the Chrysler brand. In 2008, Chrysler sold 29,000 vehicles in European markets – compared to 103,000 global sales for Lancia.
Lancia’s popularity is particularly high in its home country of Italy, where it sold 93,000 vehicles just last year. The strong sales of the Lancia brand in its home market, as well as Belgium and France leads to the possibility of the Lancia branding remaining in said markets, with the Chrysler branding only taking place in various other European markets.
Another consideration still on the table is to use the Lancia name to denote a high-end Chrysler model – similar to Ford ’s Ghia or Fiat’s own Abarth.
Fiat has said it expects to determine the plans for Lancia in 2010.
