A freind of mine who drives an Alfasud, [therefor he is a good bloke], was recently in Italy and he told me that he saw what looked to be a slightly different looking, 'Gangsta' Chrysler 300C, with Lancia badges!, i naturally told him to see his eye specialist, and he insists its true, now he sent me some email pictures, and its true, is this someones sick idea in Italy to rebadge a Yank tank as something it isn't, or has Fiat sold off any remaining dignity that the hallowed name of Lancia once had, please tell me its not true, Colin.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A5C8lfsHNyQ/TVk0bBH3b4I/AAAAAAAD--M/PixCecPRH90/s800/2012-Lancia-Thema-1.jpg)
Lancia Thema - based on the 300c....
At least it looks better than the 300C!
Badge engineering is back ... just look at the new Toybaru.
All lancia's will be badged chryslers for the rhd market. it will be interesting to lancia's on the road again in australia. It will also be interesting to see if ateco will take over the import rights. If not then modern alfa and fiat owners maybe able to source common parts from a chrysler dealership than a fiat/alfa dealership
THIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER MARCHIONI DEAL, lets hope he leaves ALFA ROMEO where it belongs- IN ITALIA-
Quote from: ANG156 on January 04, 2012, 09:17:54 AM
All lancia's will be badged chryslers for the rhd market. it will be interesting to lancia's on the road again in australia. It will also be interesting to see if ateco will take over the import rights. If not then modern alfa and fiat owners maybe able to source common parts from a chrysler dealership than a fiat/alfa dealership
Will it mean we will see proper Lancias again?
Quote from: ANG156 on January 04, 2012, 09:17:54 AM
All lancia's will be badged chryslers for the rhd market. it will be interesting to lancia's on the road again in australia.
??? ??? But we are a RHD Market, so we won't see any Lancias, only Chryslers ??? ???
Quote from: Paul Bayly on January 04, 2012, 04:28:15 PM
Quote from: ANG156 on January 04, 2012, 09:17:54 AM
All lancia's will be badged chryslers for the rhd market. it will be interesting to lancia's on the road again in australia.
??? ??? But we are a RHD Market, so we won't see any Lancias, only Chryslers ??? ???
Paul, you are right. We won't see any lancia's from the outside but as an enthusiast we will know they are lancia's from whats underneath. The engine cover will probably read chrysler but there will be a little script on the side reading FPT (Fiat powertrain technologies) just as the new alfa's have. BTW If i bought one of these new chryslers i would be ordering lancia badges and grille's from overseas and replacing the chrysler ones.
Quote from: Steve S on January 04, 2012, 01:52:00 PM
Will it mean we will see proper Lancias again?
Depends what you classify as a proper lancia. Is your idea of a proper lancia being an aurelia, fulvia or a delta?. Does proper mean to you 100% lancia owned or class breaking engineering? Its a never ending argument that applies to alfa romeo as well. Many classify a proper alfa to be anything before a 75. But why would a modern alfa be less alfa than the previous models? Is it because engine changes, quality has improved or they are less exciting? I suppose its an indication that the times have changed and manufacturers like fiat are responding to these changes. Chassis sharing is one of these changes and although i am not happy about it, i suppose its the only way to keep brands alive rather than beeing swallowed up and spat out by the crappy things from china that would surely flood our aussie market in the next 10 years.
Quote from: lombardi on January 04, 2012, 11:35:27 AM
THIS LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER MARCHIONI DEAL, lets hope he leaves ALFA ROMEO where it belongs- IN ITALIA-
This really depends if the italians can get up from their sofa's and start working. Having been overseas and coming from an italian background, italians in italy can't be bothered with work. It has been shown statistically that fiat factories based in italy are less productive than those in poland about 30% compared to 70%. If alfa does leave italy than surely it is a wake up call for the country to change their ways and actually start moving forward rather being stuck in siesta mode.
This is only my opinion so you can take it anyway you like. Having sad that though it would be a shame if it did leave italy since alfa is one of the remaing manufacturers that builds their most common models in italy. Unlike Porsche which builds the boxster in finland and some mercs come from south africa.
yes it's true - apparently the giulietta is going to be released in the US and sold as a dodge!
and the dodge challenger is sold in europe but known as a Fiat Freemont but with a FPT diesel engine.
::) Noo make it stop! Pleeease!
UPDATE: Reading into this, the car will most likely have a 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel supplied by Italian manufacturer VM. But will also have the 3.6L Chrysler engine option.
Read on here...http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-lancia-thema-chrysler-300-european.html (http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-lancia-thema-chrysler-300-european.html)
You guys are trying to jerk my chain, right?, all this stuff about American cars being sold as Lancias, is just to stooge me right?, what next a Dodgy Charger being sold as a Ferrari, like Chrysler 300c being sold as a Lancia, they are a massive car, how would you even fit one in an Italian street, i know you can do stuff on computers that can change things looks, i think its called photoshop or something, thats enough, the jokes gone far enough, now its just getting plain silly, i ask a simple question and you come up with all these stories, you guys, Colin.
Colin just to add insult to injury a suzuki sx4 is known as a fiat sedici in italy and the daewoo matiz was supposed to be a fiat model designed by giugaro but fiat/ ital design sold it to daewoo.
and I believe the Matiz is sold under the Chevy namebadge in Italy ;D
The Daewoo brand in Europe has such a bad reputation, they had to totally rebadge it as a Chevrolet, that would never happen in Australia, as we are not that gullible, and you don't see new Daewoos in Australia anymore, they must have stopped bringing here, but gee aren't there a lot of small Holdens around at the moment Barina Spark, Barina, Viva, i wonder were they originate from?, Colin.
Quote from: ccaltabiano86 on January 05, 2012, 05:55:49 PM
UPDATE: Reading into this, the car will most likely have a 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel supplied by Italian manufacturer VM. But will also have the 3.6L Chrysler engine option.
Read on here...http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-lancia-thema-chrysler-300-european.html (http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-lancia-thema-chrysler-300-european.html)
Yeah i have a family friend with a cherokee on diesel and its got a vm diesel motor.
VM Diesel Motor, good bit of gear that, comes from Italy as all good Motors for Alfa Romeo's should be sourced from, don't you Alfa Romeo drivers get stirred by people talking about the current and future Alfa Romeo engine suppliers?, i know i do, Colin.
Quote from: colcol on January 06, 2012, 09:22:58 PM
The Daewoo brand in Europe has such a bad reputation, they had to totally rebadge it as a Chevrolet, that would never happen in Australia, as we are not that gullible, and you don't see new Daewoos in Australia anymore, they must have stopped bringing here, but gee aren't there a lot of small Holdens around at the moment Barina Spark, Barina, Viva, i wonder were they originate from?, Colin.
And we don't just import them now - we build them as well. Anyone for a Cruze??
In the late '70s early '80s VM was part of IRI (Italian government bail-out ministry), just like Alfa and Ducati.
When Chrysler / Jeep decided to export minivans & Jeeps to Europe they sought a diesel engine supplier, in stepped Iaccoca and Penske who promptly bought VM; imported engine & drivetrains were mated to locally produced bodywork in Graz, Austria (former a Styer-Puch facility, now part of Magna Corporation)
VM supplied diesel engines for Land Rover, had a mate who had one, and he asked me who makes the diesels, after a lot of hard looking we found VM on it and they use Italian car oil filter Z-89, which fits 70's and 80's Alfas and Fiats, by the way he was very impressed with the motors torque and fuel economy, Colin.
:) It's based on the Guilietta ...
http://theage.drive.com.au/motor-news/dodge-dart-aims-for-a-bullseye-20120109-1prb4.html