Chrysler 300-based Lancia to debut in Geneva

According to Automotive News, Lancia is planning to unveil a new vehicle based on the Chrysler 300architecture at next year’s Geneva Motor Show. Called the Thema, the new sedan will bow alongside the five-door Ypsilon on the Lancia stage in March. So far, details are slim, though it’s clear that the Italian automaker isn’t planning to sell the vehicles by the bushel load. Early projections say that the company is hoping to move somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 Thema units per year.

Lancia has a rough history when it comes to the company’s flagship. The last Thema, built between 1984 and 1994 was fairly popular, but the vehicle’s subsequent successors failed to impress buyers. Lancia’s latest effort in the large sedan segment, the Thesis, was killed off after just 16,000 units managed to make their way from the show room floor between 2002 and early 2009.

With the proven success of the Chrysler 300 here in the U.S., it’s possible that Lancia is hoping to see a repeat performance. Keep your eyes open for more information as we get closer to the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.

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2011 Chrysler 300 V6

Of the many hurtful similes one can hurl at a vehicle, few are more insidious than drawing design or driving parallels to the oft-maligned American sedan. Thanks to the dark days of the ’70s and ’80s, once proud nameplates like Imperial, Impala and Galaxie were either completely forgotten or bastardized into models with about as much personality as a tube sock. Whether you blame it on oil prices, safety standards or the popularity of disco and cocaine, there’s no denying that the domestic four-door suffered a major fall from grace.

Now, General Motors, Ford and Chrysler are all fighting tooth and nail to establish their products as capable of besting metal from Japan, Germany and Korea. While that’s largely translated into a fleet of mid-sized sedans with soap-bar aesthetics and front-wheel-drive architectures, the 2011 Chrysler 300 is hell-bent on continuing to buck that trend.

With its rear-wheel-drive configuration and stylish lines, the four-door strives to draw connections to the Pentastar’s more successful past – to an era long before corporate take-overs and the K-car. Is it successful?

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