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The script is always the same: a photo of a new model that slips out online, coincidentally, invariably during the photo video shoot. How careless! How careless! And that’s what we call leakage. And the “leak” can be fortuitous or intentional, to create and fuel hype. And it happened again. The new Lancia Ypsilon appeared in some media who “miraculously” found the photo. Of course, we don’t have
and we are not looking for evidence that the leak of the photos was deliberate and targeted, but we have more than one suspicion. And it makes us smile.
It is obvious that many manufacturers use the fake leakage technique, but with the Ypsilon, the Italian branch of the Stellantis group could have really acted out the same script that has essentially already been seen with the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600. A script whose lack of originality is only matched to Apple’s trite slogan “Better than Sempe” and then copied by everyone.
And then the new Ypsilon Made in Zaragoza, different twin of the Opel Corsa and Peugeot 208, has already been the victim of a disturbing leak: it was recovered in France
after ending up in a canal near the historic Peugeot factory in Sochaux. Theft or poor marketing operation. We still don’t know for sure.
But let’s talk about important things: the new Ypsilon will be launched on February 14 and is the first new model after 13 years. And it begins, from Spain, the relaunch of the Italian brand which will continue with a premium medium, the Gamma, built in Melfi on the STLA Medium platform.
The current Ypsilon, increasingly older but still able to stay at the top of the sales rankings (and this should give us pause) in Italy because until now it has been a single model and single market.
Now, the relaunch of the Italian brand starts from Zaragoza, where the new Ypsilon is built on technologies of Peugeot origin such as the Cmp platform (in an updated version like its different twin 208) which immediately prepares it for electric traction.
In fact, the new generation of the Ypsilon will debut in February and will project Lancia not only into the electric era but also, as in the past, into a brand with a range made up of multiple models. In fact, after the Ypsilon, the Gamma sedan will arrive in 2026 and the Delta sports car in 2028. The new Ypsilon will be a five-door sedan, with a line defined by a decisive change of pace in the brand’s design which will also bring with it the reinterpretation of the iconic Lancia chalice grille, supported and defined by three light rays. The interior furnishings will feature typically domestic components, will bring Lancia fabric back to the fore and will offer cutting-edge user-friendly technologies. For example, the SALA virtual interface that Lancia will be the first to use among the Stellantis brands which centralizes the functions of the hi-fi, air conditioning and lighting, adapting them to the environment simply by touching a button or by speaking. Based on the StlaSmall multi-energy architecture of other recent Stellantis compact cars, the new Ypsilon will be offered with both hybrid engines with 48V technology and an electric powertrain.