Lancia is the Sleeping Beauty of the Stellantis sisters and, at least outside Italy, little has been seen or heard of the legendary brand in recent years.
Group boss Carlos Tavares now kisses the princess awake again and relaunches her as a smart supermini. The small car will debut in Italy this summer and prices are expected to start at €24,000.
Lancia has not yet found a distribution partner in Germany and many other markets, so the Ypilson will not appear there until mid-2025. Later this year it will arrive in Belgium and the Netherlands, followed by Spain and France.
At 4.08 meters, the Ypsilon is about 20 centimeters longer than the previous one, but much more spacious than its predecessor. It uses the same technology and underpinnings as the Opel Corsa or Peugeot 208.
All things considered, the Italians have succeeded in creating a compact car with a distinguished appearance using familiar components. After all, Lancia sees itself on a par with Audi or Mini and elegance has always been a synonym for the brand that produced the Aurelia and Flaminia.
However, the premium ambitions end with the drivetrain, as this so-called luxury runabout has to make do with 115 kW/156 hp for the time being.
Next year, Lancia wants to build on its sporting tradition with a hot HF variant with 177 kW/240 hp. Until then, the Ypilson can accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h in a leisurely 8.1 seconds and the top speed is a modest 150 km/h.
The extra width compared to Corsa and Peugeot should lead to greater stability on the road, but this was not noticeable on the paved test tracks at the company’s headquarters in Turin.
The Ypilson is easy to drive, but as nervous as any other small car. He follows grooves in the road and crawls over potholes.
This is a shame, as the Ypsilon has everything it takes to leave town. After all, there is a 54 kWh battery on board that should last up to 403 kilometers.
However, patience is required before you can use it, as the car cannot sip more than 11 kW from the wallbox and 100 kW from DC. The cheaper competitors are much better in this regard.
On the inside, the oversized door handles stand out, along with the 10.25-inch infotainment display, the “cannelloni”-like pattern on the seats and a table-like center console designed to make the interior feel a little more like a lounge.
The colors offered are also beautiful, together with the sustainably produced door coverings finished with a marble dust effect, the gold-lacquered decorative strips or the many different plastics around the steering wheel.
However, the sometimes sharp-edged surfaces are nothing to write home about and just because it looks different doesn’t make the Ypsilon better than other Stellantis minis. All that glitters is not gold.
And unfortunately, the Italians are not as progressive and future-proof as they like to pretend.
Lancia wants to become a purely electric brand at some point and the next new models will probably only come as battery-powered cars, but the Ypsilon is still available as a combustion engine with a 74 kW/100 hp 1.2-liter petrol engine.
Only in this way can the reasonably attractive entry price be achieved and the maker charges €10,000 extra for the electric version.
Of course everyone deserves a second chance and Lancia now even deserves a third. But should every faded brand from Europe be revived at a time when new brands are emerging from China almost every month? Maybe not if it’s difficult to distinguish the car from its Alfa Romeo and DS siblings.
There is an argument for leaving this sleeping princess behind and keeping the faded glory of Lancia as a cherished memory.
