According to The Toronto Star, citing an inside source, the car, the first Italian vehicle to be built on Italian soil (if you can call Italian a car which is mostly a Chrysler), the yet unnamed model will replace the Lancia Thesis in Europe.
Lancia, one of the worst performers in Fiat's portfolio, has already been scheduled to be melted into the Chrysler line-up, with the first model, a Chrysler badged Lancia Delta being presented at the 2010 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) earlier this year.
For the future, the two carmakers plan to sell all Chrysler vehicles in Europe with the Lancia logo stuck to the front. In the US, UK and Ireland, where Lancia is not present, the cars will be sold as Chrysler.
Dealers in Europe will get Lancia versions of the following Chrysler models: the new 300C large sedan (2011), the restyled Voyager large minivan (2011), a U.S.-built compact sedan (2012) and a U.S.-built compact hatchback/station wagon (2012). The future European-built Chrysler Sebring will also be sold as a Lancia in Europe.
Following the same line of thought, all Chrysler dealerships in Europe will be known as Lancia. The Italian carmaker plans to create a network of dealers comprising over 1,000 locations by 2014. They will all work with FGA Capital, the company which took over financing services for Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge product distributors in Europe.
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