A resurgent Chrysler is seeing robust sales and mostly positive reviews, diluting most negative undertones its recent ownership change to Fiat might have conjured. What might not be so well known is that the cross-Atlantic partnership isn’t just bringing Italian cars like the Fiat 500 to the U.S.
The company is repackaging Chrysler and Dodge cars, SUVs and minivans for sale in Europe under the Lancia nameplate.
While Chrysler wants to be seen as a more upscale choice over Dodge in the U.S., that’s exactly the position Lancia has in Italy over the Fiat brand, with Alfa Romeo being the top-tier nameplate.
While all this insider talk is interesting, the biggest impact for U.S. consumers is the fact that these cars are being exported to Europe from the U.S. (and Canada), and we caught sight of that process on a recent weekend trip to the East Coast.
A car carrier filled with Chrysler 300 sedans rebadged as Lancia Themas and Chrysler Town & Country minivans rebadged as Voyagers was spied heading east along Interstate 80/90 just east of Fremont, Ohio, by Editor-in-Chief Patrick Olsen.
He said they were plastered with stickers featuring the Canadian Maple Leaf, which makes sense since both vehicles are built at Chrysler plants in Ontario, Canada.
Chrysler told us that these two Lancia models aren’t on sale yet and that the European press hasn’t even driven them. So we truly caught an early batch headed to sea.
