Lancia is due to launch three new electric cars by 2028 in its push to become an EV-only brand, with a focus on the European premium market, and previewed each of their designs with the aforementioned sculpture.
It previewed the styling of a new Ypsilon hatchback, which is expected to be released in 2024, offering an electric powertrain for the first time in the model's 30-year history.
The sculpture also previewed how the rebooted Lancia Delta and an as-yet-unnamed flagship will look. No timeline for the arrival of the other two EVs has been announced yet, though.
It marked “a new era” for the brand, Napolitano said, and showed how the brand would look “for the next 100 years”.
Jean-Pierre Ploué, the firm's head of design, saud: “It is timeless, durable, unique. Our designs will be built with iconic shapes like the circle, square and triangle.”
In an interview with Autocar, Napolitano said Lancia will focus on small, compact and flagship models that will be “in line with a tradition that made Lancias recognisable all over the world for their elegance and modernity".
He added that upcoming cars will be sold in Italy alongside "four other European countries in the first phase". These are expected to be the UK, France and Germany. The second phase will likely involve expanding sales Europe-wide.
www.autocar.co.uk
