New Lancia Delta

[pompei]

http://www.quattroruote.it/auto_novita/ ... ice=137284Oh dear

[mk2_craig]

Blimey. Looks almost this bad

 

[andrew e]

looks lovely in the flesh - I snapped these at Geneva - a bit of class. As an aside car-lovers the Geneva Salon is 10 minutes on foot from the arrivals lounge of the airport and bugger all to get in - you could easily easyjet and back in a day.

 

 

 

 

 

But this was FAR sexier...

 

 

There is more Geneva future tat should it be required....just ask...

[Ross_K]

Sorry to disagree, but that Delta's one ugly mofo.

[Betaphile]

Takes a while to grow on you, but I like it.

[Mr Lobster]

Not an instant stunner but probably acceptable enough once you have seen it a few times.

[vicsmith]

It`s amazing how some of these new cab-forward designs look so much better in the flesh, you can tell by looking at that white one with the black roof that this will be a decent looking car. One of the new Seats is like that - their entire range looks awful in photographs - but one of them, think it might be the Leon, works really well in real life.

[wuvvum]

Blimey. Looks almost this bad

 

Anyone else think the front of that coach looks like a demented Furby?

 

No?

 

OK then. I'll get my coat.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

That new Delta looks like Wolseley 1300 for the 2000's. Absolutely shocking. The white thing looks like a Merc B class with a Wolseley grille grafted on. Lancia is just a dead marque now, it doesn't stand for anything other than garish Italian 'fashion'. That Fiat 500 looks good though, they're bang on the money with that.

[andrew e]

Everything Lancia looked grear in the flesh, most half Alacanta / leather upholstery too in beige and brown, really felt special to my eyes.

[Volksy]

Blimey. Looks almost this bad

 

Anyone else think the front of that coach looks like a demented Furby?

 

No?

 

OK then. I'll get my coat.

Pass my coat too Mr W!

[Betaphile]

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArtic ... ts/233096/

[mouseflakes]

That Fiat 500 looks good though, they're bang on the money with that.

Yeah, but do you think folk will race them with the hatch propped slightly open?

[AnthonyG]

It`s amazing how some of these new cab-forward designs look so much better in the flesh, you can tell by looking at that white one with the black roof that this will be a decent looking car. One of the new Seats is like that - their entire range looks awful in photographs - but one of them, think it might be the Leon, works really well in real life.

Agree totally - I reckon this Lancia will prob. look quite good in the flesh, although who the target audience is I don't know - I would think it would cannibalise Alfa 147 sales for a start. Maybe Seat, Saab, Volvo, former MG Rover buyers? - a lot of people out there want something that is not German because of the 'image', not French because of unreliability fears, not Ford/Vauxhall because they are 'common' and not Japanese because they are 'souless'!BTW what does 'Argent' mean in Italian?, first we had the 'Argenta' from Fiat, now the 'Argento' is a trim level on this.

[Volksy]

BTW what does 'Argent' mean in Italian?, first we had the 'Argenta' from Fiat, now the 'Argento' is a trim level on this.

Argento means silver.

[MrRegieRitmo]

That Fiat 500 looks good though, they're bang on the money with that.

Yeah, but do you think folk will race them with the hatch propped slightly open?

A bit like with the new Beetle, on the new 500 it would have to be the bonnet slightly ajar.....which isn't a very good idea!

[MrRegieRitmo]

a lot of people out there want something that is not German because of the 'image', not Ford/Vauxhall because they are 'common'

What is the 'image' of German cars? If it's a negative one that message obviously hasn't filtered through to 90% of the British public who want a German car at all costs even if it means paying extra for a steering wheel & seats! The fact that Citroen have cottoned onto that & have tried to make us think their cars are Germanic speaks volumes about the attitude that nothing else matters, all brand identity & values can be lost because there's only one way to make cars & that's the German way! Which leads me onto the other one......surely now Ford/Vauxhall aren't the common man's car anymore, it is actually German cars, some way, somehow because they're outselling the traditional bread & butter makes! Obviously everybody is more wealthy in this day & age! (so why don't I feel it?)

[Mr Lobster]

Obviously everybody is more wealthy in this day & age! (so why don't I feel it?)

Everyone isn't more wealthy, thy just have (had?) easy access to cheap credit so made themselves feel wealthy by buying things they couldn't really afford...

[r.welfare]

Exactly. And they want German stuff because it is aspirational - despite the fact with cost-cutting and platform sharing all around, the cars aren't put together as well as they used to be, or designed with such outlandish requirements to "crush the infidels by science". Mercedes used to be "money-no-object engineering", and this was used to pitch them as executive machines here despite the fact in their motherland they were not sold as such - see any taxi rank outside a German airport for proof! VW offered dependable reliability - despite teething troubles with the first Mk1 and Mk3 Golfs - while BMW were the "ultimate driving machine" where you used to pay extra for absolutely everything, including a radio. Early E36 3-series were a bag o' shite buildwise, though.The sensible private money, since the early 70s, has gone on Japanese cars and quite rightly too, in my opinion. The Japanese build and design quality (note I don't talk about engineering finesse here) is tops for the industry, despite the engineering (in the main) being entirely conventional and the body styling often dull as ditchwater.Having said all of that, Ford have pulled off the comeback of the century since the first Mondeo was launched in 1993 - dumb Yank imports (Explorer, Maverick, Probe) and "frogfaced" Scorpio aside, all of their stuff has been at, or near, the top of the class since then (when new - when seventh-hand and with 150k up, I'm not so sure...), and have left Vauxhall in their wake - try as they might, their cars (I'm thinking the Mk4 and Mk5 Astras here particularly) have been "good, but not quite enough". Although it's still only the French who have eradicated rust (but introduced electrical implosion - you can't have it both ways, it seems). I can't understand why a Mk4 Astra or a Mk4 Golf have 12-year anti-corrosion warranties (so the earliest examples of both shouldn't start rusting until next year...), but the latest models have shorter ones!Anyway, that new Delta definitely looks like a Seat Altea with a funny grille to me.

[vicsmith]

I wouldn`t say German makes are outselling bread and butter makes, if you look at the top ten for the UK the first 4 places are still Focus-Astra-Corsa-Fiesta in no particular order.

[MrRegieRitmo]

Well I heard that BMW 3 Series were being shifted quicker than Mondeos.

[Guest]

The latest Mondeo looks really weird though, is it any wonder?

[andrew e]

Its that 3rd brakelight!

[MrRegieRitmo]

Well at the time the latest incarnation hadn't hit the streets yet. (so I'd say it must be even truer now!)

[r.welfare]

You're right Reg, 3-series outsells Mondeo and Vectra combined. We've seen the "traditional" big cars like the Scorpio and Omega die out, probably won't be long before the Mondeo, Vectra etc sales shrink Europewide to no longer be economically viable...

[MrRegieRitmo]

You're right Reg, 3-series outsells Mondeo and Vectra combined. We've seen the "traditional" big cars like the Scorpio and Omega die out, probably won't be long before the Mondeo, Vectra etc sales shrink Europewide to no longer be economically viable...

The Germans' way of world domination through the back door?? They couldn't win the wars but...... So the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' becomes 'Everybody's Driving Machine'......I can see it now!

[mk2_craig]

You're right Reg, 3-series outsells Mondeo and Vectra combined. We've seen the "traditional" big cars like the Scorpio and Omega die out, probably won't be long before the Mondeo, Vectra etc sales shrink Europewide to no longer be economically viable...

Interesting thoughts, particularly since the Mondeo is now larger than the Scorpio! Focus though is probably the more appropriate "repmobile" now and sales will be well higher than the 1-series. It's a niche market world we live in today; some of those Mondeo sales will be S-Max or Galaxy instead.

[andrew e]

My mates new shape Focus is barely shorter than my E39!

 

Fact du jour - the new Mondeo Estate is shorter than the saloon!

[r.welfare]

There's a new Corsa parked nose-to-nose with a Citroen ZX across the road at the moment - I swear the Corsa is the larger of the two!