Chrysler to Sell 200 in Europe as Lancia

The fruits of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance are already reaching the United States market, but the two companies are now looking into ways to extend their coverage into more, yet unexplored regions. The new Chrysler 200, based on the Sebring but heavily restyled, is likely to step on European soil as well, but wearing Lancia's badge. Still, the marketing plans are a bit more complicated.

Chrysler will use its very own brand to market the model in the United Kingdom and Ireland, but will rebadge it as Lancia in the rest of the Europe. Obviously, there are several setbacks here, mostly because Chrysler's success on the Old Continent is pretty low, while Lancia was successful only on the domestic market.

"We are running numbers to see if it could become a profitable business case," Olivier Francois, CEO of the Chrysler and Lancia brands told Autonews Europe.

In case this really happens, Chrysler/Lancia 200 will compete against Volkswagen Passat, Ford Mondeo and Opel/Vauxhall Insignia, so attracting a large number of buyers would require massive investments from the American - Italian alliance.

Chrysler 200 will be offered in the United States with an engine line-up that includes the 2.4-liter I-4 World Gas Engine mated to either a four-speed or six-speed automatic transaxle, or the new 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine mated to a six-speed automatic transaxle.

At first, Chrysler hopes to sell around 80,000 units of the 200 in the United States in 2012, but it would have to face a fierce competition from other popular models in the class, such as Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.