The Lancia Ypsilon debuts Mild Hybrid technology

The Lancia Ypsilon is one of the best-selling cars on the Italian market, which is why the FCA group has decided to produce an ECO version with Mild Hybrid technology

Lancia is one of the most legendary and decorated brands in motorsport history, with some models as brilliant as the Lancia Delta Integrale, the Lancia Stratos or the Lancia Thema 8.32. However, the Italian manufacturer went through a long period of inactivity in our country, during which its launches met with no success in the Spanish market. This led to what seemed inevitable: Lancia withdrew from the Spanish market in 2017.

However, this disappearance only happened in our country, and the legendary marque remains part of the FCA group’s brand portfolio and continues to operate fully in Italy. Not only that, but Lancia will be one of the brands to embrace electrification in order to comply with the upcoming European emissions regulations.

The Lancia Ypsilon is the only model the manufacturer sells on the Italian market. It is not a mere token presence: the small city car posts spectacular sales figures, so much so that global sales of the Lancia exceed those of the Alfa Romeo, which does have a presence across Europe.

In fact, the group is considering developing a new model to continue this success on the Italian market. Buoyed by this success, FCA has concluded that the Lancia Ypsilon is the perfect basis for adopting an electrified powertrain. The range of this city car already included an LPG variant with a 1.2-litre engine producing 69 hp.

The Lancia Ypsilon will be the first FCA model to adopt Mild Hybrid technology

However, it will be in 2020 that Mild Hybrid technology arrives in the range of engines available for the Lancia Ypsilon. It will replace the LPG version and will be powered by a 1.0 Firefly engine producing 70 hp, with a maximum torque of 90 Nm.

This new Mild Hybrid powertrain will be shared by several FCA group models, so it will reach our market in the first quarter of 2020 with the Fiat 500, and a few months later the Fiat Panda will adopt it. These new electrified models will join the upcoming Fiat 500 electric and Fiat Panda electric.

Therefore, it seems that FCA, a group that has recently merged with the PSA group, has no intention of bringing the Lancia back to our market. This is hardly surprising, since it would mean stumbling over the same stone again, something entirely unnecessary given that the Lancia Ypsilon is selling at a strong pace on the Italian market.