Italian car brand Lancia is experiencing a new renaissance in its 116-year history, and it involves switching to electricity. At a “Design Day” event today, the Stellantis subsidiary launched a ten-year strategy that will see three Lancia electric vehicles on order between 2024-2028. While it hasn’t shared any glimpses of its upcoming electric vehicles, Lancia has shared an interesting car sculpture that encompasses the radical design we’ll see in all three upcoming models. See more below.
Lancia was originally founded in Turin, Italy in 1906 as Lancia & C. Fabbrica Automobili by Vincenzo Lancia and Claudio Fogolin. The automaker spent its first 60 years building combustion vehicles rich in innovation, including the first full production V6 engine.
In 1969, Fiat acquired Lancia, but the brand made a living from vehicle production in the 1970s and 1980s, where it found a successful niche in rally car racing. When Fiat Auto became the Fiat Group in 2007, Lancia again evolved with it, before rebranding in 2011 to design new vehicles built by Chrysler. Under FCA, in 2015 Lancia continued to sell only one model – the Ypsilon, which is currently only sold in Italy.
There were concerns that the Lancia name would be wiped out altogether when FCA morphed again, this time into Stellantis in 2021. We’ve covered this umbrella company quite a bit since then, but we haven’t heard anything about its plans for Lancia. Now, as part of the “Dare Forward 2030” electrification strategy, Stellantis has given new life to Lancia as a brand focused on electric vehicles.
Its flagship model isn’t scheduled to arrive for several years, but Lancia has shared its new logo and the unique design elements it will keep in mind when producing its first electric vehicle.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Is it a… Lancia sculpture?
The Italian brand’s executives and designers kicked off their new era during a “Day of Design” event, which included the sculpture you see above. No, it’s not an EV, but the driving force behind the design that will (hopefully) inspire a few someday.
Lancia calls this sculpture Pu+Ra Zero – a three-dimensional “manifesto” that encapsulates the “pure” and “radical” language of the three electric vehicles that subsidiary Stellantis plans to deliver every two years starting in 2024. This journey will begin with an all-electric, redesigned version of the aforementioned Ypsilon, followed by a Delta EV. According to release:
Lancia’s new Pu+Ra design language creates a space with both pure and radical forms, with a language that is not typical of the automotive industry and where the interiors of future Lancia vehicles will be perfectly consistent with their exterior design. Once on board, drivers and passengers will be embraced by typical Lancia elegance, with interiors inspired by past icons such as the Gamma, Thema and Flavia, which today have been enhanced by simple and intuitive technology in keeping with the brand. DNA. The result is an authentic living room atmosphere, offering a homely feeling similar to that experienced in a typical Italian home.
Alongside the Pu+Ra ‘art installation’, Lancia debuted its eighth logo, which, like the sculpture, is described as ‘Progressive Classic’. It is essentially inspired by the 1957 logo that first debuted on Flaminia, but also brings back many of the brand’s elements from its century-plus long history. The inscription itself is completely new, representing its rebirth into a new, all-electric era. The company’s CEO, Luca Napolitano, spoke during the event and shared his enthusiasm for a new chapter in the Italian automaker’s history:
The new Lancia era begins today with a new Logo and a clear design vision. In anticipation of the new Ypsilon, the first vehicle of the new Lancia, we present the Lancia Pu+Ra Zero, a sculpture, a three-dimensional manifesto that inspires the vehicles that will be launched between 2024 and 2028. A work of art in which the past and the future are in continuous contact, where elegance is balanced with the radical spirit of the forms. Today is the start of our Renaissance, which will amaze Lancia fans around the world. Lancia will once again be a desirable, respected and trusted brand in the European premium market. Today is the start of the new Lancia!
Lancia has finally debuted a trailer for a three-part series documenting the Italian marque’s renaissance, with episode one taking a behind-the-scenes look leading up to today’s Design Day event. You can check out this trailer below ahead of its premiere in January. It will be followed by a second episode in April 2023 and a final installment sometime in 2024, alongside the official launch of the all-electric Ypsilon.
Check back with Electrek soon for updates on this reborn electric vehicle brand.
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