INTRODUCTION
 

The New Lancia Ypsilon, which was recently introduced to the world at the 63rd International Venice Film Festival, marks the first step towards the future for Lancia. It is designed for demanding customers who are in a continuous quest for unique products. It has reinvented itself by building on an exterior look much appreciated by European motorists and an underlying nature that relies on innate good looks and style. The model has also evolved to offer more performance, more technology and more customisation options.

The New Ypsilon offers a better looking, more up-to-date style by adding a few clever touches that reflect new market trends while making the car look bigger to appeal to male drivers. The New Ypsilon comes with new petrol and diesel engines to cater for younger, more dynamic customers. These are all environmentally friendly with plenty of brio and power. The New Ypsilon is a veritable style icon for its personality and charm, now enhanced by the broadest colour palette in this segment: the very thing for the style conscious woman. The model features a truly extensive range of very different products, evidenced by no fewer than four specification levels (Argento, Oro Bianco, Oro Giallo and Platino), which will be able to satisfy premium customers of four types, each with their own tastes and needs: men, women, the young and the not so young.

The New Ypsilon aims to become the Premium B option for everyone throughout Europe since it represents the state-of-the-art in the exclusive mini field. It is designed for sophisticated customers who love to stand out in a crowd and seek satisfaction above all when using their car. And, like all the best Italian luxury products, the New Ypsilon blends outstanding style with cutting-edge technology. This winning combination is complemented by highly sophisticated good looks that give a new feel to the famous Lancia shape, perfectly matched specifications and many customisation possibilities: suffice it to say that more than 700 product options are available.

The New Ypsilon’s original styling, inspired by that of the Ardea in 1939, draws lifeblood from its past, grows in the present and anticipates the future. The result is a car with an original profile, fully in keeping with new demands for a softer, more sensual and feminine shape. The most striking thing of all is the unmistakable Lancia sense of breeding. The sculpted front, for example, reveals a pleasing symphony of shapes, all dominated by a large upright grille. The light clusters are gem-like and clean-shaped in line with the style philosophy that typifies new Lancia cars.
 

This highly appealing car is up with the market leaders but also consistent with Lancia’s history. It is very compact but offers a surprising amount of interior room and outstanding comfort. Although it is only 378 centimetres long, 170 wide and 153 high with a wheelbase of 239, the Lancia Ypsilon can accommodate four to five people and comes with one of the roomiest luggage compartments in its category (215 to 290 dm3 if the sliding seats are pushed fully forward). It is at the top of its segment for interior passenger room.

The New Ypsilon assures predictable performance at all times while also guaranteeing driving satisfaction. This is partly due to the five available engines that are now even more powerful and spirited with respect for the environment: the coming into force of EURO4 legislation will see the advent of a DPF device that adjusts emission levels by removing particulate altogether. In detail, the new engine range offers two Multijet power units (a 75 bhp 1.3 16v unit and a 90 bhp 1.3 16v unit), both combined with a manual gearbox or a robotised sequential unit known as the DFN (standing for ‘Dolce Far Niente’). These two turbodiesel units are joined by two feisty petrol engines: a 95 bhp 1.4 16v unit available with manual gearbox or DFN robotised sequential gearbox; and the new 77 bhp 1.4 8v unit available only with manual gearbox. The latter power unit is also one of the most frugal in its category: 5.5 l/100 km over a combined cycle. The last member of the range is the tried and tested 60 bhp 1.2 8v unit able to combine great torque and smooth operation with a relatively small cylinder capacity.

The new car is set to win over the market with an understated charm that strikes a clever balance between stylistic sophistication and a good equipment specification. A generous set of prestigious creature comforts also make this car a veritable pocket flagship: including the extensive Granluce sunroof, an automatic dual zone climate control system, Bose® Hi-Fi and the innovative Blue&Me® Windows Mobile-based system created as a result of a joint venture between Fiat Auto and Microsoft. This changes the paradigms of in-car communication, information and entertainment for greater comfort and improved quality of time spent on board.

The New Ypsilon yet again demonstrates the great versatility of the pocket flagship formula. This successful model will take Lancia forward into a new era where manufacturers cannot rely on the product alone to give their cars an edge over their rivals. Neither will the product be the only motivating factor to attract potential customers. For this reason, Lancia has developed major new sales and aftersales products to satisfy the desires, needs, tastes and aspirations of a host of different customers.