Chrysler and Lancia To Merge?

Here's some potentially interesting news out of Auburn Hills: Chrysler and Lancia might be merging. Hm, just what would that look like? Portholes on the side of the next Thema or some such? Or could it go the other way? Could there be re-badged Lancias soon rolling around the streets of Iowa?

For example, consider the un-named Chrysler Lancia from this year's Detroit Auto Show pictured here. Nothing that would prevent that car from looking good in a Chrysler dealer showroom or parked down at the strip mall, now is there. England's AutoCar magazine reports that nameless Chrysler Lancia, which is really a re-bodied Lancia Delta might actually be headed for production.

And add to that the reports from Fiat's boss Sergio Marchionne saying that Chrysler could be fully merged with Fiat by the end of the year. That's an odd statement for Senior Marchionne to make. Why those two brands in particular? Because if you look at what is missing in Chryslers line up, Lancia has in abundance, and vice-versa.

"In Europe, Lancia is an undersized, underdeveloped brand, with nothing bigger than the Delta. Chrysler, which has a true global reach, has nothing smaller. Put them together and you have a full line-up," said Marchionne.

The Lancia Delta with the Chrysler badges from the Detroit show, might (and that is tentative) just see production. "The rebadged Delta could quite possibly make a Chrysler vehicle," explained Marchionne. The Fiat president went on to give details that a possible Chrysler version of the Delta would not conflict with any of Lancia's current products. That's because that Fiat has no plans to bring any real Lancias over here (sadly).

On the other hand, the Detroit car would seem to have a lot of strong selling points concerning the American market. It seems to be a good size (Americans like things big) and it plays to the growing market of "crossovers"; things that are sort of like SUVs, sort of like station wagons, sort of like minivans.

And it's handsome. And you know that simply raiding the parts bin from each company could have this thing drowning in comfort and convenience features (another thing that Americans love).

Source: AutoBlog