Napolitano has presented a 10-year plan to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to relaunch Lancia, based on three new models: the new Ypsilon in 2024, both hybrid and battery electric, and a compact crossover expected in 2026 followed by a compact hatchback in 2028, both full-electric models.
“Clearly volumes are important, but our targets are about profitability,” Napolitano said in an interview on Friday.
Lancia, which alongside Alfa Romeo and DS was grouped in the pool of Stellantis brands cooperating in the premium market, needed to continue on this high-end path, he added.
“We still need to work and need to look at a benchmark … which for us is Mercedes,” Napolitano said. “I don’t mean we want to fight against Mercedes, that would be naive, but that is an example of what we look at.”
While Alfa Romeo and DS are global brands, Lancia’s target is to move to Europe, initially targeting Germany and France, where electrification is moving faster, then adding countries including Spain, Belgium, Austria and the Nordics, he said.
Tag: Austria
Fisker Ocean
The Fisker Ocean has won an inaugural THE ZEVAS zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) award, chosen at the Los Angeles Auto Show in conjunction with Electrify America.
The Fisker Ocean made its global debut at the 2021 LA Auto Show earlier this week. The Fisker Ocean won in the Crossover (US$50,000 and below) category.
The other finalist in the Crossover under $50,000 category were Alpha Motor Company Electric JAX, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E.
The Glasgow Declaration on Zero Emission Cars and Vans, announced at the COP26 climate summit, includes a commitment to “work towards all sales of new cars and vans being zero emission globally by 2040, and by no later than 2035 in leading markets”.
Ford, General Motors, Geely-owned Volvo, Daimler-owned Mercedes-Benz, BYD, and Tata Motors-owned Jaguar Land Rover all signed the commitment.
Major automakers notably absent include Toyota (unsurprisingly*), Volkswagen, BMW, Renault, Hyundai, Honda, Nissan, and Stellantis.
Toyota Motors is the third most obstructive company in the world, actively lobbying against national climate policies. They are third behind gas and oil giants ExxonMobile and Chevron.
Chinese-owned Sweden-based Volvo has already committed to going fully electric by 2030.
Countries that did sign the declaration include » Austria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Uruguay.
Major auto producing countries notably absent include » China, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
Canadian provinces of British Columbia, and Quebec also committed.