Report: Marchionne says Chrysler and Lancia could be merged within a year
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/conceptcars/" rel="tag">Concept Cars</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/euro/" rel="tag">Europe</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/crossovers-cuvs/" rel="tag">Crossover</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/chrysler/" rel="tag">Chrysler</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/fiat/" rel="tag">Fiat</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/lancia-1/" rel="tag">Lancia</a></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/gallery/chrysler-lancia/"><img hspace="0" vspace="4" border="1" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/630clancia.jpg" alt="" /></a>
<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><sma ll>The rebadging of things to come? - click above for high-res image gallery</small></em></strong></div>
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Remember the <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/11/detroit-2010-chrysler-lancia-might-be-a-look-into-the-future/">nameless Chrysler Lancia</a> (pictured above) from last week's <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/detroit-auto-show/">Detroit Show</a>? According to a <a href="http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=24667 5">report from <em>Autocar</em></a>, there's a good chance that the vehicle (a reskinned Delta) is more than just an exercise in filling up space in Cobo Hall. Fiat's boss <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/tag/Marchionne">Sergio Marchionne</a> is saying that Chrysler could be fully merged with Fiat by the end of the year. <br />
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Why would Mr. Marchionne merge two such seemingly distinct and storied brands into one? Because they fill holes in each others' lineups. "In Europe, Lancia is an undersized, underdeveloped brand, with nothing bigger than the Delta. Chrysler, which has a true global reach, has nothing smaller. Put them together and you have a full line-up," said the boss. <br />
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As for last week's Pentastar badged Lancia Delta, it could happen... <em>maybe</em>. "The rebadged Delta could quite possibly make a Chrysler vehicle," explained Marchionne, who went on to explain that a Chrysler'd Delta would not conflict with Lancia. Why? Fiat won't be selling any Lanica-badged Lancias in the United States. If that's the case, the merger would be similar to how Renault-Nissan does business, and hopefully not as... how to put this... plain rotten as DaimlerChrysler turned out.<br />
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<div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/">Chrysler Lancia</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/chryslerlancia000_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/chryslerlancia001_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/chryslerlancia002_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/chryslerlancia003_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/chrysler-lancia/low/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/01/chryslerlancia004_thumbna il.jpg" alt="" title="" /></a></div><br />
[Source: <a href="http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=24667 5">Autocar</a>]<br />
<br /><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/20/report-marchionne-says-chrysler-and-lancia-could-be-merged-with/">Report: Marchionne says Chrysler and Lancia could be merged within a year</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 12:32:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/20/report-marchionne-says-chrysler-and-lancia-could-be-merged-with/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19324115/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/20/report-marchionne-says-chrysler-and-lancia-could-be-merged-with/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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