New Chrysler range

[Gizmo!]

I've been seeing the adverts on TV recently for the new Chrysler range: Delta, Ypsilon, etc.

Clearly these are rebadged Lancias for the UK market. But why? Surely Lancias (Integrale, Aurelia, Stratos) have a much better image than Chrysler (rebadged Talbot rusty hatchbacks).

[Spitfire2]

With a Lancia badge it will disintigrate into a small pile of rust in 6 months .........

Of course.

[DavidHM]

Because there is already a dealer infrastructure here; no need to revise contracts and take on risk to get e.g., FIAT dealers to sell Lancia too.

Plus the rust issue around reputation.

I think most people see Chrysler in terms of the 300C and Voyager rather than Talbots.

The question is whether it's worth doing at all... the styling will be used in the US market, so for the UK we get an American grille and Euro bumpers, but the RHD conversion (even if they share platforms with other FIAT group cars) seems like a lot of work for low volume.

[tex200]

Spitfire2 said:

With a Lancia badge it will disintigrate into a small pile of rust in 6 months .........

Of course.

so cynical! I had one that lasted a whole winter. (well actually the bottoms of the doors didn't, so fair point!)

[anonymous-user]

DavidHM said:

The question is whether it's worth doing at all... the styling will be used in the US market, so for the UK we get an American grille and Euro bumpers, but the RHD conversion (even if they share platforms with other FIAT group cars) seems like a lot of work for low volume.

There is usually no "conversion". Most cars are engineered from the outset with a floor plan where the front bulkhead is suitable for building the car either way around and most individual parts can be used on either car. In a modern car factory you will see LHD and RHD cars being built on the same production line at the same time.

A notable exception was the Renault Twingo - "The original Renault Twingo of 1993 was one of the more ground-breaking designs of the ’90s, but it was never officially sold in the UK because it was never engineered for right-hand drive. Even so, it still sold in massive numbers throughout Europe and eventually found its way onto some 2.4 million driveways" says Autocar.

[davepoth]

The Delta shares a platform with the Fiat Brava I think, so everything necessary to make it RHD is available off the shelf with the exception of interior trim, which is not really that expensive to make compared to the rest of the vehicle.

[Spitfire2]

tex200 said:

so cynical! I had one that lasted a whole winter. (well actually the bottoms of the doors didn't, so fair point!)

Pretty sure that was a Lada