Lancia dealers in Ireland?

patto_chan

I'm trying to get some information on the Lancia Delta.
Although Lancia is owned by Fiat in Italy I am told by local Fiat dealers they don't do Lancias here.
Is there a Lancia dealer network in Ireland?

Owen

According to a 10 second google search, Lancia don't do right hand drive cars since 1994.

Juantorena

As paintDoctor says - Lancia haven't been in these Isles for some years now.

Lancia were due to re-enter the UK market - presumably with rhd - in the Summer of this year. Not sure if it's happened as yet though...if they do we might be getting them also.

HashSlinging

The guys in Alasta autos might be able to help, failing that Kelly's in rathdrum.

patto_chan

Many thanks for the replies.
I did find online newspapers articles referring to a possible Lancia relaunch in the UK in 2008 and wondered would it stretch as far as here but it appears not.

Drummerboy08

OP, I hope you are making a mistake, and think Lancia are bringing back the Delta of old -



Because if you are interested in this -



You need your head examined!

VolvoMan

Lancia were planning to make a comeback in the UK this year but the global recession and less than glowing reviews of the new Delta mothballed the plan for the moment.

Tropheus

You could always do a personal import of a LHD. However, you may have some problems when it comes to maintenance.

colm_mcm

Lancia only really sell in their home market to patriotic Italians. they have very little to offer anyone else, they used to do quirly luxurious cars, but everyone else has caught up.

Eoin

colm_mcm wrote: »

Lancia only really sell in their home market to patriotic Italians. they have very little to offer anyone else, they used to do quirly luxurious cars, but everyone else has caught up.

I saw a few Lancia saloons (the Thesis?) in Rome, and thought they looked quite cheap. Sort of reminded me of those Mitsuoka yokes with the dodgy front grills to try and make them look more upmarket.

Bluefoam

http://www.lancia.it/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/LANCIA_ITALIA/home.jsp

Saab Ed

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Because if you are interested in this -



You need your head examined!

Im in Austria at the moment and I was parked up close to one today. I think its nice. Inside looks great but it really is just a dressed up Bravo.



OP you might consider one of these...

colm_mcm

eoin wrote: »

I saw a few Lancia saloons (the Thesis?) in Rome, and thought they looked quite cheap.

Rented one in Italy a few years ago, basically an Alfa 166. nice car inside though

Bluefoam

The Bravo is a cracking car...

TomMc

colm_mcm wrote: »

Lancia only really sell in their home market to patriotic Italians. they have very little to offer anyone else, they used to do quirly luxurious cars, but everyone else has caught up.

Lancia may not be the sophisticates car today, like they were before Fiat ownership, but in a world of badge engineering, platform sharing, generic parts bin etc, their cars are no less relevant than many popular marques over here. In recent years Lancia have become the posh version of Fiats, in much the same way Audi are of VW's. Except Lancia dare to be different. They are more popular with continental Europeans than you might think.

eoin wrote: »

I saw a few Lancia saloons (the Thesis?) in Rome, and thought they looked quite cheap. Sort of reminded me of those Mitsuoka yokes with the dodgy front grills to try and make them look more upmarket.

Sit inside a top of the range Thesis and it is not a case of trying to be upmarket, they are and in a way many uppity German cars are not.

colm_mcm

TomMc wrote: »

Lancia may not be the sophisticates car today, like they were before Fiat ownership, but in a world of badge engineering, platform sharing, generic parts bin etc, their cars are no less relevant than many popular marques over here. In recent years Lancia have become the posh version of Fiats, in much the same way Audi are of VW's. Except Lancia dare to be different. They are more popular with continental Europeans than you might think.

Unfortunately the harsh reality is that they have a pretty old and limited model range:

Ypsilon is getting very long in the tooth, it was contraversial when launched but hardly exciting 6 years on, it's based on the old Punto, so hardly cutting edge either.

The Musa is a very thinly disguised Fiat Idea (also rented one of these) it's less good looking than the Fiat, and apart from slightly better equipment and nicer interior colours - I can't see why you'd buy one. Given how poorly the Fiat Idea sold over here, you can only imagine how a more expensive less good looking version would do.

The Delta just reminds me of a less good looking SEAT Leon, only made by FIAT. Wouldn't be enough to make someone in this country not buy a Focus or Golf.

The Phedra is just another thinly disguised Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen MPV,

And the Thesis, while nice in a novel kind of way, is miles out of date, and could hardly be pitched as a rival for anything other than the current Saab 95 or the Hyundai Grandeur - or the 166 of course (except Alfa had the sense to pull it from RHD markets almost 4 years ago)

To recap; weak product lineup, no unique engine choices, no niche models, dodgy styling, and aging technology. While it'd be a novelty to have another car brand in the country, we can do without this one.

VolvoMan

I saw a few of those Delta's over in Italy during the summer and thought they were quite an elegant car. I think the only reason people think they're ugly is because they're different.

Eoin

TomMc wrote: »

Sit inside a top of the range Thesis and it is not a case of trying to be upmarket, they are and in a way many uppity German cars are not.

Cool, didn't see the inside - just thought the appearance looked a bit tacky. Edit - I'm no badge snob by the way, I'd have no problems changing my "uppity German car" for something a bit different.

VolvoMan wrote:

I think the only reason people think they're ugly is because they're different.

Not me anyway, I like to keep an open mind - I just didn't like the look of it.

dudara

I saw one of these new model Lancias in a shopping centre in Brussels last year. They're actually quite good looking in the flesh.

I was quite intrigued as my parents owned 3 Lancia Prismas back in the late 1980s/early 1990s. I really learned to drive on those cars.

I think that Lancia were quiet for many years, selling small city run-arounds in Italy and the continent.

TomMc

colm_mcm wrote: »

The Delta just reminds me of a less good looking SEAT Leon, only made by FIAT. Wouldn't be enough to make someone in this country not buy a Focus or Golf.

To recap; weak product lineup, no unique engine choices, no niche models, dodgy styling, and aging technology. While it'd be a novelty to have another car brand in the country, we can do without this one.

Well IMHO the current Seat Leon is a step backwards from the original one. And while the Delta has a similar profile from the front and a bit of Volvo C30 going on at the back, in the right colour it is likeable and not bland or anonymous like many popular cars over here. And a more pleasant interior as well. I'd gladly shake someones hand if they bought one as it would be one less Golf, Octavia, Corolla or whatever to look at. And when it comes to building stylish smaller cars, with modern diesel engine technology, Fiat are as good as any and better than most. So for an individualist, Lancia is a good option, with it's Fiat underpinnings and its more daring styling & upmarket furnishings.

The problem is over here we as a people aren't a very daring or stylish lot. Very conformist and conservative when it comes to buying cars, unlike say the Italians or French. Our motoring public tend to buy badges, where as they prefer something more design led or avante garde. Even in Germany, their equivalent of Carzone has over 200 used/new model Delta's for sale, which highlights real appeal.

colm_mcm

There's nothing individualistic about an Italian buying a Lancia. They're EVERYWHERE in Italy

TomMc

Europe is bigger than Italy! And it is not uncommon for a motor marque to have more of an aura:D about it, when it is located outside of its homeland. Foreign cars and all that. While its homeland will be its biggest market in percentage terms (just like french marques in France), rare cars are more chic when parked up in more unlikely spots around Europe.

Eoin

I just don't think this is a good looking car - it's just looks wrong to me, in particular the front lights. I don't think makes me conservative or a badge snob, I just don't like it.

TomMc wrote: »

The problem is over here we as a people aren't a very daring or stylish lot. Very conformist and conservative when it comes to buying cars, unlike say the Italians or French. Our motoring public tend to buy badges, where as they prefer something more design led or avante garde. Even in Germany, their equivalent of Carzone has over 200 used/new model Delta's for sale, which highlights real appeal.

My experience of France and Italy (admittedly mostly outside of the more upmarket places like Nice) is that cars are much more of an A to B tool for them. True, they don't buy badges, but I didn't get the feeling that they were particularly discerning at all. Massive generalisation I know, but the thread has gone that way already.

TomMc

Yes the Thesis looks like the bast... child of a Ford Scorpio and a Rover 75, but in a dark colour, nothing like as bad as in silver. But sit inside of it and you would think you were in something else entirely.

Since we are making generalisations - do you think continental European women have more more grace, style and finesse than Mna na hEireann? Because to my mind they do and it tends to show in general overall tastes as well. More cultured.

Eoin

TomMc wrote: »

Yes the Thesis looks like the bast... child of a Ford Scorpio and a Rover 75, but in a dark colour, nothing like as bad as in silver. But sit inside of it and you would think you were in something else entirely.

Looks a little better I suppose, but the looks just aren't my thing. I can understand that the interior might be really nice, but I care how a car looks as well.



If it's basically the same as a 166, then I'd take the Alfa any day.

TomMc wrote: »

Since we are making generalisations - do you think continental women have more more grace, style and finesse than Mna na hEireann? Because to mind mind they do and it tends to show in general overall tastes as well.

That's for the after hours forum

TomMc

I'd prefer the 166 as well, but in Ireland/UK even it's sales figures were very poor. That is the difference between our markets and continental Europe. People 99 times out of a 100 will buy the default choice 5 series or E-class, on the continent that figure may be 90-95/100. And even on the used market when depreciation isn't such a factor, things will not change very much over here.

When you bring this down to the more mainstream family car / budget end of the market, the same thinking holds true. Despite the fact it is a much more even playing field. So what has little or no appeal over here, will have a niche one in mainland Europe. Different strokes for different folks.

ytareh

Oh my God whats gone wrong with the Italians ?!First (?) the Alfa Mito (Owl face!)and now this !I just had a look at the previously linked Lancia site and they are without a doubt the ugliest complete range of cars available ...even the Delta starts out looking nice round the rear shoulder quarter(like the Seat Leon -much nicer than the old model in my opinion) but then as your eyes stray down the bonnet and to the grile ....OUCH!The other three monstrosities almost are amongst the ugliest cars I have ever seen .As amply demonstrtaed by the two pics , the Alfa 166 is a million times nicer...

Eoin

I've just noticed that the pictures of Thesisisis I posted are in front of a jet and a yacht, so maybe they are a bit more upmarket than I thought!

VolvoMan

ytareh wrote: »

Oh my God whats gone wrong with the Italians ?!First (?) the Alfa Mito (Owl face!)and now this !

I'm pretty sure the Italians have launched a good few cars in the space of time between the near decade old Thesis and the MiTo.

By the way, words can't describe how I feel for the 166 in that colour with those wheels!:)

unkel

colm_mcm wrote: »

To recap; weak product lineup, no unique engine choices, no niche models, dodgy styling, and aging technology. While it'd be a novelty to have another car brand in the country, we can do without this one.

Sadly, I agree. The total degeneration of Lancia seems to be complete now

From a brilliant and innovative independent manufacturer to a no longer independent but with sports success and still creating great cars like the Stratos and the Integrale (and one of my favourites, the Beta Montecarlo - a Golf GTI left me lukewarm at the time), to decades of consolidation, decline and now - just look at the Thesis

TomMc

There VM, you can sleep easier tonight.

CianDon

VolvoMan

TomMc wrote: »

There VM, you can sleep easier tonight.

Sorry, my bad. In my post I was actually praising the look of the Alfa 166 in that green with tele-dial wheels.

I think they're the fcuking sex!:D

VolvoMan

unkel wrote: »

Sadly, I agree. The total degeneration of Lancia seems to be complete now

From a brilliant and innovative independent manufacturer to a no longer independent but with sports success and still creating great cars like the Stratos and the Integrale (and one of my favourites, the Beta Montecarlo - a Golf GTI left me lukewarm at the time), to decades of consolidation, decline and now - just look at the Thesis

I think it's only going to get worse with that lad Sergio Marchionne. He seems to have more of a business-minded approach to his company rather than an emotional one.

It was starting to look OK for Lancia a few years ago when they made a concept of a re-invented Fulvia. Though for some unfathomable reason they never put it into production.

unkel

VolvoMan wrote: »

I think it's only going to get worse with that lad Sergio Marchionne. He seems to have more of a business-minded approach to his company rather than an emotional one.

The one person not to blame would be Marchionne. Without him, the current Lancia Delta would be an Opel Corsa in disguise

But seriously, he must have been busy with the FIAT brand. Alfa has been neglected a bit, I feel, except of course the 8C. And his last concern would have been low volume low value Lancia. Give him the benefit of the doubt at least - once sales of the tiny cheap FIATs (and derivatives) start bringing in the big bucks, he might revive the posher sisters. There's hoping!

VolvoMan

unkel wrote: »

Give him the benefit of the doubt at least - once sales of the tiny cheap FIATs (and derivatives) start bringing in the big bucks, he might revive the posher sisters. There's hoping!

If that acquisition of GM Europe had gone ahead Lancia would've been getting the axe. That tells you how low the brand is on the list of the company's priorities.

TomMc

Unfortunately, nowadays market share and profit comes first. Engineering excellence can be too costly an indulgence for niche players. If Mercedes have to dumb down from over-engineering vehicles to mass producing them, what chance has Fiat/Lancia.

VW built the Veyron as a technological tour-de-force to showcase their abilities, each sold at a loss. Lancia did the very same decades ago with their great models as they had a philosophy in those days which is completely alien to motor manufacturing today (given harsh financial realities).

The problem lies with Fiat owning all the great Italian marques. It is hard to have Alfa Romeo and Lancia continue their core traditions when they are part of the same family. They both get pigeonholed to be either the (more mainstream) sporting or luxury marque, one or the other, rather than a blend of both. Otherwise they compete with each other within the same family, rather than with other marques outside.

Saab Ed

Proof that even platform sharing you can still go your own way and make something different. When this came out on the continent it sold like hot cakes. Great looking car IMO.