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Lancia Delta to Be Discontinued This Year, Voyager to Follow

It's no secret that for a few years now, the Italian brand is no big seller due to a number of reasons: high prices, average quality fit & finish, Fiat underpinnings and a less than diverse model lineup.
Lancia Delta 1 photo
Photo: Lancia
Naturally, the only people that aren't biased by these shortcomings are the biggest fans of the brand - the Italians. Even Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne declared that Lancia will sell its products only in Italy in the near future.

And now it looks like Lancia could die altogether from Italy as well. According to a recent report, the Delta hatchback will sing its swan song later this year, with the Voyager minivan soon to follow in 2015.

Ultimately, the brand's lineup will have only one model - the Lancia Ypsilon, that has its underpinnings based on the former generation Fiat Panda and Ford Ka. As we're sure you know, a world class automaker cannot survive by selling one model only in a single European market.

The path Sergio Marchionne has set Lancia upon is both damaging and humiliating compared to the former glory of the iconic Italian car manufacturer. Also, Marchionne desperately focuses on revamping badges with global potential like Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Maserati to keep FCA investors happy.

So what's the biggest reason FCA's numero uno doesn't really want to save Lancia? A very good explanation comes from Ian Fletcher, an IHS Automotive analyst: "Marchionne may wait for Alfa Romeo’s strategy to yield its first results before killing the brand."
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About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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